Force of Nature
by Just Another Angry Feminist
Summary: Ruby Thorpe never had friends in Hogwarts, she always cared more about creatures than people. She got the experience of a lifetime after leaving Hogwarts to work with dragons at a sanctuary in Romania where she meets a ragtag group of men who slowly bring her out of her shell. Everything starts to change after that, but nothing worth having is ever easy.
1. Chapter 1

**I own nothing familiar, and I took creative freedom freedom with all the things that ARE familiar.**

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I've always been good with animals, even as a kid I would rather be around them than people. It didn't matter what kind, and they were as drawn to me as I was to them. The connection just grew stronger as I got older and went to Hogwarts where I took Care of Magical Creatures. I spent all my free time with Hagrid and the various animals he tended to on the grounds; it was always the highlight of my day. Then Professor Kettleburn took me under his wing and taught me everything he knew.

When I turned seventeen, I had a job lined up in Romania working with dragons I'd worked my arse off to get. I had training this summer, then I was going to work with them for real! I remembered the lesson on them back in Hogwarts and my obsession, I wanted to know everything I could. They were endlessly fascinating and it seemed like I never ran out of things to learn. Every dragon had their secrets, but only the best trainers could figure them out.

"I can't believe my last baby's leaving home so soon! And to Romania!" mum exclaimed the day I got my acceptance letter by my owl. "The boys put me through the rough stuff, I thought you'd be my easy child."

I had two older brothers and both of them were pretty rambunctious, but Miles was a handful to say the least. Compared to him and James, I was the most docile of the bunch and never got in trouble. But mum knew how much I loved animals, and neither of them had the heart to tell me I couldn't go.

After mum grew more comfortable with the news, we went to St. Mungo's to get my potions. I was going into a new environment and I had to protect my system from new illnesses. In my seventeen years, I'd only ever been to England and Scotland -Romania was exotic compared to them.

The nausea was nothing compared to the excitement welling in my belly over my upcoming adventure. I'd dreamed of working with dragons even before Hogwarts, so imagine my surprise when I realized it was possible. Needless to say, this sanctuary has been my goal since second year.

When the day of my departure finally came, I was chomping at the bit to go while mum was still a bit nervous. I had to be at my first Portkey in twenty minutes and she was still holding on to me. I'd said goodbye to Miles and James ten minutes ago and they were just watching us now with matching amused grins -assholes. After I swore to her a billion times I'd write, she finally released me and I left with a middle finger tossed over my shoulder to my brothers.

When I got to Dragon's Den, I could've literally kissed the sandy ground under my feet. I'd never taken that many Portkeys in my life. I had quick reflexes and good coordination, but Portkeys tended to distort that in even the most talented wizards. Especially after taking seven of them back to back.

I was instructed to wait for a man named Delos when I got to the sanctuary. He ran the place and signed the papers for my training. I didn't know what he looked like, I just relied on him remembering the picture I submitted of myself.

When no one met me at the gate, I ventured deeper inside on my own. Once my eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight, I gasped out loud. There were at least five dragons within seeing distance with more further out. They were huge and majestic and everything I always imagined they'd be and more.

I sat my rucksack on the ground and approached one of the pens slowly. They recently opted for the invisible fences so the visitors could get the best possible view of the creatures inside. I got as close as I could and pressed my hands to the invisible barrier, catching the eye of the… Catalonian Fireball?

That wasn't possible! Those were extinct and had been long before I was born, so long there were only drawings of them. Yet there one was, it's red and orange and yellow scales shimmering in the sunlight just like the books described them. Its black snout pointed towards me as it stalked to the barrier, stopping a few meters in front of me.

"You're beautiful," I breathed, refusing to blink and miss a second of the majestic creature staring down at me. "So beautiful."

The dragon crept up to the barrier, eyes locked on mine. "You're okay, beautiful. I'm not going to hurt you. It's okay, everything's fine."

Dragons were proud creatures, I'd read that in every book about them I'd gotten my hands on. I bowed my head down to show respect to them and my submission as I rested my hand against the invisible barrier between us. That move, however, was a theory from Dr. Blankenhorn, a dragonologist from Spain. It was basically pseudoscience, never been proven to actually work, but I was dead set on proving it right. Dragons weren't violent by nature, they were only that way when they felt threatened like most predators.

Even with the barrier between us I still felt the unevenness of the dragon's nose when it decided to let me touch it. Just as I brushed my fingers against the scales, fire singed out and made my fingers ache. I hissed and tore my hand back, whirling around to see who spooked the dragon with fire of my own barely concealed under the surface. I was so close to proving Dr. Blankenhorn's theory right.

When my eyes landed on a tall redhead, I instantly started raving. "What the hell? Who do you think you are coming up behind me when I was trying to bond with the dragon? Do you know how dangerous it is to interrupt that? Dragons are prideful creatures and it was choosing to bond with me. What the hell is your problem?"

I had a bad temper, but my fuse wasn't usually so short. It just sparked when people didn't respect me like he hadn't. There was a reason I opted to bond with animals, they never made me angry like people. Maybe a little frustrated, but that was nothing compared to the fury coursing through me right now. This dragon only existed in the pages of books and here it was, less than a meter in front of me, and this asshat interrupted my bonding.

Before the redhead could say anything, a man with dark hair pulled back in a ponytail and a scar running through his eyebrow stepped around him. He clapped the redhead on the shoulder and grinned, "It seems you've got quite the spitfire to train, Weasley."

"The spitfire has a name," I snapped, placing my hands on my hips and tapping my foot.

"I'm Delos," the man with the scar said, still smiling happily. "You're Ruby Thorpe, the only girl to apply and the only accepted applicant out of 345."

There were 345 people who applied and I got accepted? And I was the only girl who wanted to work with dragons? So much for breaking gender roles –Carrie Fisher would be so disappointed.

"Okay, now that we're all acquainted, do you mind telling me where the hell you get off scaring the dragon when I was trying to bond with it?" I asked, glaring up at the redhead with unhampered anger.

"Well, I'm going to leave you with Charlie for your training," Delos laughed, winking at me before turning to Charlie and saying, "Good luck, Weasley."

After that he left the two of us where we were standing and Disapparated. Charlie seemed to find his words and moved out of his rigid stance.

"Do you know how stupid that was? Approaching a dragon like that?" he asked, trying to be intimidating and failing because I'd already seen him flustered.

"Do you know how stupid it was to startle the dragon while I was so close?" I countered, my hands still on my hips and my foot tapping.

I saw a couple emotions playing out on his face: annoyance, frustration, and realization. "Okay, fine, you're right. That wasn't smart, if the fence hadn't been there, you could've been seriously hurt. But what were you trying to do?"

"I was trying to bond with it," I said, then I looked over my shoulder at the dragon's hind scales and corrected myself, "With her, I was trying to bond with her."

"Bonding? You know that's complete bollocks, right? Anyone that's tried to do that has ended up scorched or dead," he told me, trying to keep a straight face. "It's a rookie mistake to try it."

My temper was still burning red hot, but I stamped it down a bit. "Listen, you do whatever you're supposed to do as my trainer and I'll work on bonding on my own time. Sound good?

You should probably agree because the other option is me sneaking around and doing it regardless of what you say. At least this way you'll know about it," I added, figuring I should be honest.

Again, I saw a couple emotions cross his face before he settled on annoyed again. "And what makes you think you can stay here if you don't follow orders?"

"Number one, I didn't say I wasn't going to follow orders, master," I replied, my anger turning into sass. "Number two, something tells me that if I got chosen over 345 other people, I'm pretty irreplaceable. And number three, your boss really likes me."

"My first trainee and you're a pain in the ass," he sighed, realizing this was a losing battle and giving up. "Wonderful."

I looked back at the Catalonian Fireball one last time before picking up my things from the ground. "Well, Weasley, care to show me where I'll be staying? I'd like to put these down and get started on training."

He let out a huff of breath and ran a hand through his hair. "Right, that'll be the barracks, they're this way."

The Dragon's Den was huge, way more than just dragon enclosures. There was a big building he told me was the canteen, where we had meals, beside the barracks where we slept. There were a lot more buildings, but he said we'd get to those when it was time -he was so frustrating!

The barracks themselves were bigger inside and looked kind of like small flats. The hallway was lined with doors and Charlie led me to number 14. He tapped above the doorknob in a pattern and the door pushed open to reveal a bedroom.

"There's a bed and a wardrobe," he told me, allowing me to walk in first before following. "There's a bathroom at each end of the hall we all share."

"Exactly how many of us share two bathrooms?" I asked, sitting my bag on the bed and turning to face Charlie.

"Counting the two of us, fifteen," he replied after a minute of counting. "And we all eat in the canteen so there's no kitchen, but there's a fridge in the basement."

"Okay, my stuff is here and I know how to find the room. Now let's go start my training!" I said, trying my best to not jump up and down.

"Slow down, firecracker, you've got to finish up some paperwork before that can happen," he told me, holding up his hands. "Let's go to Delos' office and do that; also, your training doesn't start until tomorrow morning."

I huffed in dissatisfaction but went with him to Delos' office anyway. The papers were probably more things that said I wouldn't sue if I got hurt. I'd signed my life away already, a couple more papers wouldn't hurt.

We went down to the bottom floor of the barracks and into a small office. Charlie knocked on the door before easing it open to reveal Delos sitting at a desk with a bottle of whisky in front of him.

"The tour's finished, I figured I'd drop her off with you," Charlie announced, making the older man look up at us. "If you need me, I'll be in the canteen."

"You can sit down if you want, 346," he replied, gesturing to the seat in front of his desk. "And yes, before you remind me, I know your name is Ruby."

"I was told I needed to fill out some paperwork," I said, relaxing back against the seat with my arms crossed over my stomach. "I'm kind of starving, so…"

"No, that was just a lie to get Charlie to leave you alone. That boy hates paperwork," Delos smiled, pouring me a shot of whisky and sliding it across the desk to me. "Have a drink with me, 346."

I figured this was a test to see how tough I was, he wanted me to see if I could handle this job. You'd think after what he'd witnessed when we first met would've given him his answer, but I also knew what I looked like. I was about five foot four with blonde hair and blue eyes. I looked like a total pushover.

I made sure I held his eyes as I killed the shot and didn't wince even though it was possibly the strongest alcohol I'd ever tasted. He seemed pleased with me and nodded his head.

"I was just going to tell you to go easy on Weasley. He's never had a trainee before," he told me, recapping the bottle and bridging his hands on his desk. "He's the best dragon trainer we've got here, and I know he can help you be just as good if not better than him."

His praise made me straighten up a bit. "Thanks, that means a lot."

"Also, don't let Weasley know I told you that. You're not the only one with a temper, but his can get bit violent," Delos replied, tapping the desk. "But it takes a lot to make it flare up."

I nodded and tried to take in everything he was saying. I would be spending a lot of time with Charlie in the next few months, I needed to know as much about the guy as possible. The last thing I needed was to get into an argument that made us both lose our temper.

"That's good to know, I'm not great at making people like me," I told him, drumming my hands against my thighs nervously. "I'll be more docile if that's what you want. I just really want this job, it's all I've ever wanted. I don't want to ruin it before it even begins."

"Trust me, I got that from your essay. The one that wasn't required nor asked for," he told me, but the grin on his face said he appreciated it. "You can go eat now. You have an early morning ahead of you, 346. Also, your attitude is why I picked you, don't lose it."

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 **Thanks for reading! Drop a review and tell me if what you think.**


	2. Chapter 2

**People actually read this and followed! I'm glad it got noticed, thanks so much!**

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The second I walked into the canteen, twenty plus sets of eyes flashed up to me. This wasn't my comfort zone, so I shrank under the intensity of their stares. If I were with the dragons or other creatures, I would have kept my confidence. I just didn't do great with people.

"Ruby, over here!" Charlie shouted from a table near the back of the building. "Go back to your dinner, ya vultures."

A couple of the guys rolled their eyes but followed his command while others continued to look me up and down. I scurried over to where Charlie sat with three other guys who seemed pretty content to just be there. None of them were looking at me with any kind of intentions, and I felt myself slowly stop bristling.

"I'm Huf," the tan guy said with a bit of an Arabic accent, reaching across the table to shake my hand. "It's nice to meet you, Ruby."

"So, you're the chick Delos has been raving about for the last three days," the bloke with locks beside him remarked, sizing me up like we were about to fight. "Huh, I guess there's more to you than what I'm seeing. I'm Leon, but everyone calls me Sparky."

My confusion must've shown on my face because Huf laughed and explained, "Sparky here has an uncanny ability to piss off every single dragon he encounters. They blow fire and he has the charred skin to prove it, show 'er, Spark."

He hopped up from the table and whipped his locks to the side so he could lift his shirt. Just like Huf said, there was charred skin all along his back. It had been burned so many times, I felt like it would crumble off his body if I touched it. Like he could read my mind, Huf slapped it hard with his hand and nothing happened. Oh, so it must have so much damage he couldn't feel much.

"I apologize for my jackass counterparts, I'm Wilt," the guy sitting by Charlie told me with an American accent, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose before holding out his hand. "You can sit with us, but know the conversations only get weirder the more comfortable they get with you."

"I can handle weird, I have two brothers," I replied, sitting down in the seat he offered.

"You eat Hogwarts' style," Charlie told me, gesturing to the food between us on the table before they guys asked any questions. "Except, it doesn't all go away until everyone heads out for the night."

I nodded and loaded my plate with chicken and potatoes. Then I started eating without looking up at them when they talked unless they mentioned me. I was pleasantly surprised when they included me in their conversation, it was nice to feel like I fit in.

"So, you're Charlie's first trainee?" Wilt asked once the others left to get something to drink –alcohol. "He's terrified, if you're curious. He's never had one before, he's not the biggest people person. For a while, I thought he only spoke dragon."

"It's the same for me. I'm only confident with creatures," I told him propping my chin on my hand.

"I'd say; Charlie told us about you trying to bond with the Catalonian Fireball within the first five minutes of getting here," Wilt teased, bumping my shoulder with his. "He thinks you're a spitfire, he already likes you."

It had never really mattered to me how people felt about me, but Wilt's words made relief flood over me. This would be a lot easier if my trainer liked me. I looked at my watch and felt my eyes bulge when I realized how late it was.

"Wow, I seriously need to be in bed right now," I replied, pushing up from the table. "Thanks for inviting me to sit with you, I really appreciated it."

He shrugged me off and stood up to walk with me. "It's no problem, I was the new guy before you. I know how intense all these grizzly, rugged men can be. Especially if you're different than them."

Now that he mentioned it, Wilt did look different than the other men. He was lanky and had more delicate features. I also got the impression he was more standoffish than the others, I had a feeling I was the exception to the rule. The other guys seemed a bit surprised he was speaking to me so much but tried to play it off during dinner.

"So, what do you do here?" I asked, trying to make conversation as we crossed the sandy desert floor. "Also, I didn't think there were deserts in Romania."

"To muggles there aren't, this has some pretty sophisticated cloaking magic over it," he replied, a small smile on his face. "I work in research and surveillance."

"So, you basically keep this entire place hidden and running?" I teased, elbowing him as I tucked my hands into the pockets of my jacket. "That's good to know, having connections is important."

He rolled his eyes and held the door open for me as we entered the barracks. He and I were on the same floor, him a couple doors down from me. We said our goodbyes before parting ways into our rooms.

I grabbed my things for a shower and started my search for an empty bathroom. My shower was brief, just washing my hair and body, before wrapping myself up in a towel and heading to my room.

"Look at that, boys, it seems we've got ourselves a tease. I wondered how you got the spot when a ton of blokes applied," a guy said as he passed me in the hallway. "Must've blown Delos to get in."

I kept my eyes on the floor and walked a little faster toward my door, trying to ignore him and his friends. The last thing I wanted was to be attacked my first night here. Then I felt a gust of wind under my towel and anger sparked through me. I dropped my toiletries near my door and charmed my towel into place before rounding on the group of them. My fear was forgotten as rage boiled in the pit on my stomach.

"Did you seriously just try to see up my towel like a pathetic little school boy?" I barked, holding my wand up in a defensive pose. " _Levicorpus!"_

I watched as he slowly flipped upside down and hung in midair. All his friends looked at me in surprise, apparently not expecting me to fight back. "Well, look at that, I guess I'm not just a tease after all."

I turned back around and gathered my things, going the rest of the way into my room and locking the door behind me. Once I was safely inside, my things fell to the floor because my hands were shaking so badly. The whole encounter reminded me of Hogwarts and all the times I'd been bullied… the only difference was I'd fought back this time instead of running away.

Romania was already changing me.

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Delos wasn't lying when he said I had to be up bright and early, Charlie banged on my door a little after six that morning. I complained the entire time I got ready but kept my mouth shut when I went outside to meet him. Hell would freeze over before I gave him something to reprimand me for, especially not this early in the game.

I shoved my wand in my boot and rushed out to meet Charlie. He was leaning against a storage building talking to Sparky and Huf. When they saw me, Huf grabbed onto Sparky when he acted like he was floating away. Without thinking I felt my entire face pale, how did they know about what happened last night?

"On a scale of one to express shipment back to the UK, how much did I mess up last night?" I asked, pinching the bridge of my nose as I approached the three of them.

The other two laughed as Charlie looked at me with his arms crossed over his chest. "You're not supposed to use magic against other people or for violence in general for that matter."

"Oi, fuck off, Charlie!" Huf said, wrapping an arm around his neck and pulling him down to rub his knuckles over his head.

"Yeah, you're not in trouble. Delos knows Lewis is a dick and told his mates to leave him hanging from the ceiling," Sparky added. "You're probably the first one who used magic, usually people just sock him in the face. I couldn't tell you how many times the bloke's had his nose reset just this month."

Their words calmed my racing heart and I sagged back against the wall Charlie was leaning against earlier. Speaking of Charlie, he punched Huf in the ribs and made him let go. The three of them worked like a well-oiled machine, and I realized they'd probably been friends for a long time. It would've been cute if it wasn't for all that pesky toxic masculinity getting in the way.

"You wankers need to get to work. I have a trainee to train," Charlie said, shoving his friends away playfully.

"I'd be careful if I were you, Weasley. She's already proven she's quick with spells and has a hair trigger when it comes to her temper," Huf teased, slapping palms with Sparky as they started walking away. "See the two of you at lunch… probably."

I laughed and flipped them off, watching Charlie's lips turn up into a small grin. "Whoa, I didn't know the great Charlie Weasley knew how to smile."

He sobered up instantly, but I knew what I'd seen already. "Don't be chipper just yet, you're shoveling scat out of the baby dragon enclosures."

My good mood immediately evaporated and a frown tugged at my lips. At least I was wearing leather boots and old clothes with my hair back in braids. I reluctantly followed Charlie to the enclosure he was talking about, taking the shovel, he handed me and muttering colorful swear words under my breath.

All the baby dragons were in a pit in the middle of the enclosures where they could exercise. I would love to work with them soon, but I had to work my way up to that and I knew it. In every job, you had to climb the ranks, this one was no exception.

I transfigured a bucket into a muggle radio and played music as I shoveled the scat into a wheelbarrow. When it was full, I took it to the fire pit like Charlie instructed before going back to the grind. I was in the middle of using my shovel as a guitar along with the song playing on the radio when Charlie cleared his throat behind me.

"Merlin's beard! You could've given me a heart attack!" I shouted, slapping a hand over my racing heart after I dropped my shovel. "You are such a prat!"

He sighed and said, "Or you could just stay here shoveling dung while I go eat lunch. It's your decision, brat."

I waved my wand over my body and muttered a quick 'scourgify' to clean off the smell of poop before I responded to him. "Awe, do we already have pet names for each other?"

He was swearing very colorfully as I made my way to the canteen. I heard him jogging to catch up with me, but I shut the door of the building in his face. He swore even more colorfully, so much so I would have blushed if I didn't grow up with brothers.

I made my way over to Huf, Wilt, and Sparky with an annoyed Charlie following behind me. They must've seen the look on his face and the way we'd came in because Huf and Sparky looked like they were ready to burst with laughter. I just smiled and sat beside Huf, waiting for them to rib Charlie the second he joined us.

"You think you're cute, don't you, brat?" he asked quietly as soon as he sat down. "I am your boss, you need to respect me."

I barely resisted the urge to roll my eyes because I knew he was right. "That would be easier if you weren't such a prat."

"So, how was shoveling shit?" Huf asked as we loaded our plates.

"Shitty," I replied, making him laugh and hold up his hand for me to give him a high five. "That was so lame, you're aware of that, right?"

He just shrugged and started shoving potatoes into his mouth instead of answering me. I followed his lead and started eating my own food. Sparky and Charlie were talking about the new group of eggs that were shaking and how long it would take for them to hatch.

"Romanian Longhorns take a while to hatch. How long have they been incubating?" I asked between bites of my carrots. "Also, why are they incubating instead of being warmed by their mothers?"

"She's ill," Wilt replied, pushing his glasses up his nose with the back of his hand. "The eggs have been incubating for two weeks, so they're very close to hatching. I would guess it'll happen in about three days' time."

"I forgot we had kid dragon doctor sitting with us," Sparky joked, tossing a piece of bread across the table at him.

I saw Wilt's eye tilt down and knew he was hurt, so I immediately came to his rescue. "Don't be a dick because you don't know an elbow from a fore leg! Maybe you wouldn't get charbroiled so often if you paid more attention."

Huf laughed and Charlie snorted so hard, he started choking on his food. I caught Wilt's eye and he mouthed 'thank you.' I nodded to him subtly as Huf beat on Charlie's back to help him stop dying as Sparky looked at me with raised brows.

"What? I thought you already knew I was a brat?" I asked, grinning over the rim of my glass. "Just ask Charlie."

He flashed his eyes over to me and winked, making the table erupt in fits of laughter. I ended up looking at him longer than usual and realized he was actually attractive. He was just overly annoying all the time, and it made it impossible to notice what he actually looked like.

Conversation stayed playful and light until we parted ways. I reluctantly went back to mucking out the dragon pens. I ended up tying a bandanna around my head to keep the sweat from going into my eyes and my baby hairs at bay. By the time I'd mucked out the enclosures and replaced the hay, I was exhausted and ready for a shower. There wasn't a cleansing charm strong enough in the world to make me feel better right now.

I went back to the dorms and grabbed my things to shower. The water ran dirty for almost a solid ten minutes before it was clear again. I scrubbed my hair clean and my body for almost twenty minutes. Once I was content with my cleanliness, I left the bathroom and ran smack into Charlie.

"Merlin!" I hissed, gripping the knot I'd tied in my towel so it wouldn't fall. "Can you watch where you're going, jackass?"

He looked down at me with his lip pulled back in a snarl, ready to bark back at me. Then I watched his eyes grow fractionally larger when he realized I was naked. His snarl fell away and he took his bottom lip between his teeth nervously.

"What?" I asked, my annoyance still palpable. "I'm naked and wet, I'd like to fix both of those things. Can you kindly get out of my way?"

Instead of arguing with me like usual, he just stepped to the side so I could pass. I felt my eyebrows knit in confusion as I slowly moved past him. My bare arm brushed against the softness of his flannel shirt, making gooseflesh appear along my skin. I refused to think about what that meant when I went into my room, getting ready for bed instead. Thankfully, I was so exhausted I fell asleep instantly instead of driving myself crazy overthinking our interaction.

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 **I hope this chapter was as good as the first.**


	3. Chapter 3

**The support for this story has taken me by complete surprise! I didn't think anyone would even notice this story let alone review it! Thank you so much!**

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The next morning, I got up before Charlie could bang on my door. I'd brought an alarm clock with me from home, sometimes being a muggleborns had its advantages. I'd just finished French braiding my hair when I heard his fist connect with the oak. I charmed my baby hairs to stay in place before swinging my door open and surprising Charlie.

"I didn't expect you to be awake," he told me, watching as I put my wand in my boot and shut the door behind me. "What with you needing your beauty sleep and all that."

"If I got any more beautiful, it would be a safety hazard," I teased, brushing past him and out into the reserve. I turned around and saw him standing in the same place, a loss for words, "Did I strike Charlie Weasley speechless?"

"Piss off!" he grunted, stomping out to me. "You're shoveling shit again."

I just shrugged and asked, "Where? I finished all the baby enclosures."

I didn't trust his mischievous smile, it made me nervous. He didn't smile unless I was going to be in a bad situation. I feel like the only time he got pleasure was in MY displeasure. He was sadistic that way.

"You want to bond with the dragons, right? I'll give you time to try after you muck out the enclosures of the Fireball, Horntail, and Opaleye," he told me. When my sassy smile faltered, he ate it up. "Oh, not so spunky now, are we?"

I flipped him the bird and let him lead the way to the Hungarian Horntail's enclosure. It was empty and huge, I'd be here all day! There were big containers instead of wheelbarrows this time. While I was looking around in exasperation, I realized something. He'd never told me I couldn't use magic to muck the enclosures, I'd found a loophole!

Once he left me alone, smiling like the total asshole he was, I set my plan into action. Mature dragons had a certain place they used the bathroom and didn't go anywhere else. It took me a while to locate it in the vast enclosure, but it wasn't impossible. I floated one of the containers over when I did and started levitating the scat inside. The enclosure was scat free by lunchtime and I hadn't even broken a sweat. Ruby -1 Charlie -0.

"Ah, I see you've wised up," Huf exclaimed, meeting me outside to head to lunch together. He threw his arm over my shoulder and said, "Pretty and smart! What a combination!"

I rolled my eyes but let him keep his arm around me. We walked into the canteen together and I saw Wilt already sitting with a book in his hands. He was such a nerd, it was sweet. Sparky came out of nowhere and picked me up, tossing me over his shoulder as he walked the rest of the way over to our table.

"How was your morning?" Wilt asked when Sparky deposited me onto the bench beside him.

"346 finally remembered she has magic!" Delos said, stopping by our table. "Good on ya!"

Charlie sat down just as Delos left and the they exchanged a nod. Huf was snickering and I knew he was about to ask a question he thought was _hilarious_ and I would think was annoying.

"Why didn't you just float the scat out yesterday instead of shoveling it?" he finally asked, his laughs coming out in peals.

I rolled my eyes and loaded my plate, waiting for them to stop laughing. "Charlie gave me a shovel, and I figured that meant I had to do it by hand. Then I realized he's a prat and found the loophole."

"I thought you'd know you could use magic seeing as you're a witch and everything," Charlie shrugged impishly from across the table. "You beat out 345 other wizards, remember?"

He was right and it was beyond frustrating so I didn't reply. I started shoveling down my shepherd's pie instead. I was a muggleborn, I forgot magic existed a lot of the time still. Conversation left me and focused on the eggs that still hadn't hatched. I peeked at the cover of Wilt's book and grinned.

"Catcher in the Rye is my mum's favorite book," I smiled, crossing one leg over the other and turning my body to face him as I ate. "Are your parents muggles, too?"

He marked his space in his book and replied, "Uhm, my parents don't have magic no. My mum's a teacher and my dad's a lineman. We call them no-majs though."

"And none of us knew what that meant," Sparky replied, drawing the two of us back into conversation. "We're all clueless purebloods."

I gasped sarcastically and slapped a hand over my heart. "No way! The three of you clueless? I'd have never known! Say it ain't so!"

"Weasley's right, you are a brat!" Huf said, but he was smiling regardless. "I take back calling you pretty!"

"You called her pretty?" Charlie asked suddenly, making us all flash our eyes over to him. "Not that it matters… I just missed it."

I saw the guys smirking at his slipup, but I was just confused. Why was he so on edge about Huf calling me pretty? Did he think it was going to distract me from my work? Huf wasn't my type, he was too wild even if he was cute.

"Right, I'm going to eat and act like that wasn't weird," I replied finally, going back to my pie and not looking at them.

Thankfully, I finished eating soon and left the tense air surrounding the table. I heard Wilt get up and follow me, tucking his book under his arm as he went with me to the Antipoedean Opaleye's enclosure.

"Don't you have a job to do?" I asked, starting my search for the scat area.

"I'm currently doing it," he answered. "I'm checking for weak spots within the enclosures."

I snorted and floated the container over to me when we found the spot. I started transferring the poop as Wilt cast a spell, watching it bounce around the enclosure. It didn't look like he was working, but he also didn't strike me as someone who messed around when it came to his job.

"I don't think I've ever seen Charlie act the way he's acting right now," he told me once the spell stopped bouncing and he'd sat down on a rock to watch me. "He must really be worried about training you."

"Delos said I'm his first trainee," I replied, focusing on transferring a particularly big pile. "Why would he be worried? I give him shit, but I think I'm doing a relatively good job. Transferring scat isn't particularly complicated."

"The whole reserve was nervous for you to come in because you're a girl," he answered. Then he held up his hand and said, "Before you start ranting about how sexist that is, I already know and I said you'd probably be awesome. We've had negative experiences with girls from town coming in and screwing a lot of the guys. A lot of concentration is necessary for training dragons, and the concentration isn't on the dragons when pretty girls are around."

"So you think I'm pretty, too?" I asked playfully, sticking my tongue out at him after I was finished cleaning the enclosure.

I watched him roll his eyes at me without blushing, making me knit my brows together. Wilt was easy to embarrass, something was off. He noticed my iffy look, but he didn't say anything and I didn't press the subject. Instead, we parted ways with him heading to check the other enclosures and me going to finish cleaning.

* * *

Charlie came and found me right after I finished the Fireball's enclosure. I did a cleansing charm on myself and tucked my wand into my boot. I was bouncing in excitement and saw him roll his eyes in response.

"You can roll your eyes all you want, but you made a promise!" I teased. "You said I could try bonding with the dragons if I finished my cleaning the enclosures, and I did."

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah, I did say that, didn't I?"

"And you can't take it back!" I agreed, crossing my arms over my chest in satisfaction. "Let's go!"

"We're going to try with baby dragons first," he told me, leading the way to the enclosure I'd cleaned yesterday. "They still breathe fire and it burns the same, but it's less aggressive. It also gives me time to check on the eggs."

When were inside, I walked slowly toward the babies and dropped to my knees gently a couple meters from them. With them all watching me, I lowered my head and scarcely breathed as I waited for them to take the next step. I heard the pitter patter of their feet against the hard earth, but I didn't look up. Instead, I slowly extended my hand and kept my head bowed.

The roughness of scales brushed against my fingertips and made me look up slowly. A baby Opaleye was standing apart from her friends, choosing to trust me while the others remained skittish. Still stroking her nose gently, I sat down flat and watched with baited breath and she walked over to crawl onto my lap. She sniffed around my neck and my hair, smelling the dragon dung and thinking I was safe. I was completely awestruck at her instantaneous trust, I never expected it to happen so quickly.

"Hi, pretty girl," I said quietly, stroking just behind her tiny horns. "You're very brave, I'm so impressed."

"I'll be damned," Charlie said from behind me, making me grin but not look away from the baby in my lap. "She doesn't let anyone touch her. Pearl's finicky."

"You just have to be gentle and slow," I said in an even voice as I continued stroking her scales.

Trying to keep as much attention on her as possible, I looked over at the other dragons. They'd moved closer to me but were regarding Charlie's presence now. It was like he knew and slowly backed out of the place, shutting the door behind him.

"He's gone, sweet babies, it's just me and I want to play," I told them in a sweet voice. "It's okay, you can keep your distance."

The little girl on my lap didn't like not having all my attention and blew enough fire to sting but not hurt me. I tutted her and looked back down, frowning at her playfully.

"You don't like sharing my attention, Pearl?" I asked, running my fingers along the scales of her neck and chest. "You're a greedy little girl."

Her growl sounded like a laugh and a purr at the same time, making me smile at the cuteness. I'd always had a fondness for Opaleyes, I thought they were so beautiful. Pearl was no exception with her pearlescent skin and lavender eyes -she was gorgeous.

When my fingers skirted around her wing joint, she surprised me and extended them so I could continue my exploration. She trusted me completely already, it was unheard of to bond with a dragon this quickly… it was unheard of to bond with a dragon in general. This was brilliant, and I would never take advantage of this moment in my life.

My legs were extended out in front of me and I felt tugging on my boot strings. When I looked up, I saw a couple of the babies played with the buckles. They were nipping and breathing fire on the leather, but the boots were fireproof so nothing ignited -my legs just warmed a little.

My stomach started growling an hour or so into playing with them and knew it was time to say goodbye. Disappointment gathered in my stomach at the thought of leaving them, I would stay here forever if I could.

"Pretty girl, I have to go," I said soothingly, moving slow and putting her back on the ground. "I promise I'll be back, and we'll play some more. Maybe even with the others next time."

She blew smoke through her nose as she threw what I would call a dragon tantrum. I stroked the top of her head between her horns and she stopped, but I knew she was still upset. I held up my hand for her to wait and pulled out a couple firestones from my pocket. I tossed it in the air and she flew up to catch it, swallowing the stone hole. I gave one to the others before leaving the enclosure.

Charlie was standing at the observation window with Sparky and Huf. I bowed to them dramatically when I saw their matching looks of surprise. So, I wasn't the only one partially in shock.

"Tell me again how bonding isn't a thing," I announced, jumping onto Huf's back and demanding, "To the canteen!"

"We bow in the presence of your greatness, oh Dragon Queen!" Sparky shouted once we were outside.

"As long as you know your place," I teased, making him bump into me and Huf hard enough to make him stumble.

Charlie was mysteriously quiet so I looked over to tease him, but his look killed whatever I was going to say. His eyes were stormy gray as he watched me, his lips tilted up in a barely there smile and he looked like he was a million miles away. When he realized I was watching, the tips of his ears burned red and he turned his head to face front quickly… but I'd seen the look and couldn't imagine I'd ever stop seeing it.

What in Merlin's saggy Y-fronts did that mean?

* * *

 **The plot is starting to roll now! I hope you're ready.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi! Welcome to the new chapter! I know it's late, I'm sorry.**

 **There is some Spanish in the bottom chapter, so here are some translations: mi cariño -sweetie mi cielito -honey** **mujerzuela** **-slut**

* * *

Multiple fists pounded against my door a week later on my day off. It was a little after one in the afternoon and I was still in bed. I was taking full advantage of my free time to catch up on sleep because I was exhausted. I'd made a lot of progress with the baby dragons but also been burned more than a few times by the playful beasts.

I stomped over to the door and opened it with a murderous look. Huf, Wilt, and Sparky were all standing outside with matching grins. I was still glaring when I crossed my arms and leaned against my door frame.

"Can I help you with something or do you all just want to die?" I asked in a mock-saccharine voice.

"We're going out at five tonight," Sparky told me, pushing past me to sit down on my bed. "Your room smells nice."

I gestured for the others to come in as well before shutting my door. I flopped back onto the mattress and Huf laid with his head on my stomach and Wilt leaned against the wall. I'd been working at the Reserve for two weeks and the four of us were pretty inseparable with Charlie tagging along. Finding the group of us like this wasn't out of the ordinary.

"What does 'going out' entail?" I asked, closing my eyes to catch some final winks of sleep.

"There's a local bar we hit up on occasion," Wilt explained. "It's always pretty interesting."

"That actually sounds really fun. I'm going crazy here with only wild, rugged men," I exclaimed, sitting up and knocking Huf's head into my lap. "Is Charlie going, too?"

Wilt smirked slyly at me and I felt my face burning. I didn't want the others to see how embarrassed I was, they'd never let me live it down. Thankfully, Sparky was flipping through a muggle book from my desk and Huf had his eyes closed.

I don't know why I flushed, I was just asking a question… at least I'd meant to. I couldn't stop myself from watching Charlie a little closer after the way he looked at me the other night. It confused the hell out of me. He was handsome, anyone with eyes could see that, but it was something more for me. Charlie challenged me and pushed me to be the best person I could be, nobody'd ever done that before.

"Probably, I couldn't imagine him letting us take you away from the Den without him tagging along," Huf answered, looking up at me with mischievous eyes. "He thinks we'd ravage you or something."

"As if I couldn't kick your asses," I said fleetingly, pushing my hair over my shoulder.

"That's what I said," Wilt said, making an obvious gesture with his hand that made me snicker.

I rolled off the bed after I lifted Huf's head and dropped it unceremoniously to look through my clothes. Sparky groaned about how bored he was before leaving with Huf on his heel to do something stupid I'm sure. Wilt, on the other hand, just sat on my bed and toed off his shoes to cross his legs and get comfortable.

"So, do you want to tell me what that blush was about or do I have to ask?" he finally asked, making me stop fiddling and move over to sit with him.

"I don't know! Everything was fine until the first day I got to play with the baby dragons. When I came out, the guys were watching me and teasing me like always. I'd just jumped onto Huf's back when I looked over at Charlie and my heart hit my knees," I sighed dramatically. "I swear, Wilt, no one has EVER looked at me like that before."

He looked confused, so I explained more. "His eyes were so intense and he was smiling at me. Well, I think it was a smile anyway. It was tiny, but it was definitely there."

"It sounds like Weasley isn't ace after all," Wilt observed, making me raise a brow at him. "Asexual, we all thought he just wasn't into people at all. He's never brought home a girl or a dude in the entire time he's been here apparently. But it sounds like he's into you."

"You're full of it," I told him, totally mind blown he even thought that. "I annoy the hell out of him because I don't listen and do whatever I want."

He just made a noise that he'd heard me, but I knew he didn't agree. It had never crossed my mind he could fancy me. I just thought I annoyed him so much he was finally starting to think I was funny or something. Boys didn't like me, they didn't even notice me most of the time. It had always been that way, I've only shagged one boy and it was a total disaster.

"Speaking of romance, how's your love life?" I asked, changing the subject.

Wilt immediately got flustered and started trying to stutter out an answer. All his words were jumbled up and didn't make sense. My confusion must've been clear on my face because he stopped talking, took a deep breath, and spoke again.

"I like dudes," he finally said. "Nobody here knows because I'm a spineless piece of shit. I'm already the weird one, you fit in better than I do. I'm not strong and I'm not great with the dragons, I'm just a twig who's too smart."

Wilt did stick out among the men at the Reserve. He was the only American here for starters, and he liked to solve problems with his brain instead of his fists. To me that made him a lot stronger than the lot of them, but I knew he wouldn't believe me if I told him. Instead, I moved to wrap an arm around his shoulders.

"One of my brothers is gay," I told him quietly. "He was so afraid to tell his mates and my family, I remember him having panic attacks over it."

"I haven't had one in a while, I was out at home," he explained, running a hand over his hair before leaning into me. "Then I came here and clammed up, I was too much of a wimp to say anything."

I sighed and hugged him, understanding how badly he wanted to fit in. "If they're really your friends, they won't mind. I don't think Sparky or Huf is going to care that much, and Charlie's a Weasley for cripes sake! They accept everyone, but I understand why you want to keep it a secret."

He nodded, but I knew that was asking a lot of him. "You do whatever you're comfortable doing and know I support whatever decision you make. Now, I have to go fight for a shower and come back to get ready for tonight. I haven't done my makeup or hair for weeks, I'm out of practice and need all the time I can get."

Wilt rolled his eyes but got up anyway. "Thanks for listening, I haven't had anyone to talk to while I've been here. Even with the guys, it's been pretty lonely."

I scurried over and hugged him again, making him blush as he left my room. Charlie just happened to be walking by and eyed Wilt's flushed cheeks before looking at me. I waved at him cheekily before shutting my door behind me.

* * *

I wasn't kidding when I told Wilt it would take me a while to get ready for tonight. I was still applying my lipstick when Sparky opened the door as he was knocking. When he saw what I was wearing, he whistled approvingly and made my face heat up.

"Shut up, you oaf!" I scolded, charming my makeup in place and grabbing my jacket. "I don't get to wear makeup around here. Forgive me for taking advantage of a chance to wear clothes that aren't stained or ripped!"

He held up his hands in a surrender motion and I snorted. Then I sat on the edge of the bed and pulled on my boots, lacing them up as the guys waited impatiently for me. I stood up and turned around to look at the group of them.

"Let's go!" I cried, tucking my wand into the pocket inside my jacket.

"Bring that sassy ass here," Huf called to me. "You have to Apparate with one of us because you don't know the bar."

I rolled my eyes but did as he said, jumping onto his back. One of his hands held my knee while the other wielded his wand. We landed in an alley and waited for the others, me dropping to my feet and straightening my clothes.

"You look good, not gonna lie," he complimented as the others joined us in the alley.

"Why don't you piss off and let me kick your ass at pool," I suggested, making Charlie bark out a laugh and Sparky hit him with the back of his hand.

Huf wrapped his arm around my shoulders and lead the way into the bar. It smelled like beer and stale cigarette smoke, just like every other bar I'd ever been in. I ordered a beer and took stock of what was around me. Sparky and Huf were already flirting with girls, Wilt was messing around with the Jukebox in the corner, but Charlie was nowhere to be seen.

"You've got all the guys wrapped around your finger," a masculine voice said from beside me.

I turned to find an attractive man with a glass of something dark. "I can't say I know what you mean."

"Every man in here has watched you since you walked in," he replied, sipping his alcohol as he eyed me. "I can't say I blame them. A beautiful stranger comes into a bar, she's got my attention from the start."

The man was beautiful in an unfamiliar way. I'm from England where it's permanently overcast, and this man looked like he spent his entire life in the sun. His accent told me he was some variation of Latino; Spanish I was guessing. His dark brown eyes felt like they were looking straight through me to my soul and made me a little nervous. No man who looked like him EVER looked twice at me.

"My name's Ruby," I told him, taking a sip from my beer and eyeing him.

"I'm Santiago. It's wonderful to know you," he smiled, kissing the top of my hand.

My insides squeezed at the action and I had to drink my beer to stop myself from babbling something stupid. We sat together at the bar and drank for a while, him speaking Spanish to me and making me giggle like a little school girl.

I caught Huf's eye across the bar and saw him struggling to get away from a girl who kept touching him. I sighed, it was my responsibility to go save him and be a good friend. I excused myself from Santiago, going over to save my doofus friend. Jesus, the moron seriously owed me big time.

"You promised me a game of pool," I said, placing my hand on his shoulder before taking his hand in my hand. I acted like I just noticed the girl and said, "Hi, we kind of already made plans… sorry."

She seemed put out and left the two of us alone with a pout. After she was out of earshot, Sparky came out of the woodwork and teased him. I punched Huf in the shoulder after I dropped his hand as hard as I could.

"Oi! Where'd Wilt go?" Huf asked after he thanked me for saving him.

"He skived off with some bloke when he thought we weren't looking," Sparky answered as Charlie joined the group of us.

"Wait, you guys know?" I asked in surprise.

"That Wilt likes it up the ass? Yeah, we've known for a while," Huf answered, drinking from the beer in his hands. "Now are we playing pool or not?"

"Hell yes," Sparky bellowed heading over to an empty pool table. "I want the Dragon Queen on my team!"

"Oi, that's fine! I didn't want to be your partner anyway," Charlie teased, but I saw a tightness behind his eyes that wasn't there before that confused me.

Huf racked up the balls and I lined up my first shot, closing one eye as I focused on the triangle. I hit the very tip of it and made them all spread out evenly across the table. Two striped balls went into pockets and Sparky hooted, slapping my palm before lining up his shot.

Unfortunately, he was the worst pool player in the entire world. The only balls we got into pockets were the ones I hit, so I kept flashing him incredulous looks. Charlie and Huf were having a laugh at our expense, even if I was supporting our team on my own pretty damn well.

"Why am I not surprised you're good a pool?" Charlie asked while Sparky tried to line up a shot.

He was leaning against the pool table beside me with his pool cue against the ground. Even if I'd never admit it out loud, he looked devastatingly handsome. I tried to lean on my cue like he was and ended up losing my balance and nearly faceplanting the ground.

"Whoa, firecracker, let's stay on our feet, yeah?" Charlie teased, catching me by my waist and righting me.

"Stop flirting and take your shot, Weasley!" Huf called, making Charlie flush and turn around clumsily to the table.

Needless to say, he completely missed his shot and I laughed as I bent over the table to take mine. I had to be strategic with my moves, there were so few striped balls left on the table. I felt eyes on my back, but I didn't turn around until I hit the white cue ball and knocked the purple striped ball into the corner pocket.

There were no other clear shots, so I just used my next turn to set up some future shots. When I stood back up, I saw Charlie quickly look the other way. A powerful shiver shook my spine when I realized his eyes were the ones I felt on me earlier when I was bent over the table. And judging by how quickly he looked away, I'd bet he was looking at my bum. How cheeky!

I swallowed thickly and walked over to him, deciding to take the bull by the horns. His eyes were dark when he looked down at me, making me realize how tall he was. He dwarfed me at 5'6", meaning he had to be over 6 feet tall. His chest was broad and laden with thick muscles, the veins in his arms were prominent when he ran a hand through his hair nervously.

"So, do you make it a thing to check out every girl's ass you play pool with or am I special?" I asked, watching Huf and Sparky argue over whether a move was allowed. "Not that I'm complaining or anything. I just like to know my competition."

I even finished the statement with a saucy wink before going over to our friends. I have no idea what came over me, but I felt like a different person in this new atmosphere. I'd probably regret what I'd done tomorrow, but it was fun tonight.

"Let them have the point! We're smokin' their asses anyway," I told Sparky, making him smirk and cross his arms.

"Yeah, you're right," he agreed, making me roll my eyes.

We all went back to the game, but Charlie's concentration was shot after my flirty behavior earlier. I knew I should probably feel guilty, but I was oddly giddy instead. At least I was until Santiago came over to our pull table and asked to speak with me alone. Oops, I'd forgotten about him.

"Mi cielito, it seems you've left before I got your number," he purred, brushing my hair behind my ear and stroking the back of his hand over my cheek.

Instead of being tingly at his flirtations like I was earlier, I just wanted to go back to my friends. "Yeah, about that, uhm, I'm not in the right place for a relationship right now."

"Neither am I, mi cariño," he pressed on, not taking the hint. "That doesn't mean we can't enjoy each other's bodies for the night."

An uncomfortable feeling started building in my stomach as his hands wandered lower than my face to stroke my neck. Who the hell stroked someone's neck? It was weird and too intimate for someone I'd met in a bar.

I felt someone come up behind me and figured it was Huf repaying me for earlier, but I was surprised to see Charlie step in front of me. If Santiago wasn't making me so nervous, I would've shouted at Charlie for being such an ass and thinking I couldn't fight for myself. Instead, I let him and held his bicep.

"She obviously doesn't want to be around you. Stop being a prick and leave her alone," he instructed, leaving no room for debate with his thick arms crossed over his chest.

Charlie Weasley was intimidating, and it made me think back to the first day I came to the Dragon's Den. Delos told me Charlie's temper was horrible and he got violent, I could see that with the way he was holding himself now.

"Yeah, twat, take a hike," Huf said, coming up to stand beside Charlie.

"She's not interested," Sparky told the guy, finishing my firing squad.

Santiago was a big enough dude, but he was no match for the three of them. Training dragons had made their bodies hard and muscular. They'd demolish him in a second… plus they had magic and he was a muggle.

"Whatever, she's probably a mujerzuela anyway!" Santiago slurred, glaring at me with hard eyes.

I didn't know what that word meant, but Charlie obviously did because he threw a punch. It connected with the man's jaw and knocked him backward. Without thinking, I grabbed Charlie's arm and pulled it back to his side in horror.

"No, fighting isn't the answer. He can be pissed at me all he wants and call me every name he can think of, but that doesn't mean can hit him," I chided, tugging my jacket around me and crossing my arms over my stomach. "I think I'm going to go back to the Reserve. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ruin everyone's night."

I left the bar and made my way over to the alley from earlier. I was about to Disapparate when I heard someone shouting my name. Charlie was running from the bar to catch up with me and I felt embarrassment coursing through my body. I'd made a right ass of myself, flirting with two men and then ruining things for everyone.

"I'm really embarrassed and just want this night to end," I told him, looking at my feet instead of at him. "Just go back in and hang out with the guys, and please act like tonight never happened tomorrow."

"If that's what you want," he told me quietly.

"It really is," I replied instantly, pulling my wand out of my jacket. "I'll see you tomorrow."

I Disapparated quickly and let out a breath of relief when I was back in my quarters. I was so dumb tonight, I couldn't even believe it was me who acted that way. I never flirted with guys, especially not two in one night. Then Charlie punched someone in the face because of me.

I really hope I didn't ruin everything just when it started getting good.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Leave a review and tell me what you thought about the chapter!**


	5. Chapter 5

**There is some Arabic in this chapter because Huf is Egyptian, so I'm going to put a translation up here like I did last chapter. Also, I'm not even going to pretend I speak or read Arabic, so if that's incorrect and you do speak/read Arabic -please correct me in a review or PM and I'll fix it. Make me writing better!**

 **بجزم (bijuzms) -assholes**

 **Also, my last review said the previous chapter was too short. That's because this one is a continuation for the first part. I just didn't want the last one to be too long. I hope that's cool.**

* * *

 **Charlie's Point of View**

Ruby was the most frustrating person I'd ever met in my life. I wanted to think it was because she didn't listen to any instructions I gave her, but I knew it was more than that. She was beautiful and fearless and everyone who met her instantly loved her. She was fierce and determined in a way I'd never encountered before.

I'd been avoiding developing any feelings at all for her. Then I watched her with the babies and saw how much they loved her, and something clicked. I'd never been interested in dating because no one understood my love for dragons and why I risked my life everyday just to be around them, but Ruby felt the same way.

My experience with girls was limited, only clumsy romps with them back at Hogwarts. I hadn't been with a woman or even been around one for longer than a few hours in almost three years. The thought of having feelings for Ruby was terrifying, so I tried my best to push them away… but it just made me even more of a prat than usual.

Even if I knew Huf, Sparky, and Wilt were just her friends, I got jealous whenever they touched her -Wilt didn't even like birds for Merlin's sake! It was obvious to the three of them I fancied her, I just wanted to keep it from Ruby. I was her trainer, any sort of fraternizing between us was unethical… at least that's what I told myself to keep me from doing something rash and embarrassing. Like kissing her when she was in the middle of reaming me out over something pigheaded I'd done or said. The girl took absolutely none of my shit.

She was always beautiful, but she looked out of this world when we met up to go to Delgado's. I tried to keep myself restrained, but there was just something about her that kept drawing me in. Seeing her with that prat at the bar made my blood boil, but I refused to let her see me sweat. There was no way a girl like her would ever fancy me anyway.

Thankfully, she left the guy at the bar to save Huf and I swear I've never been happier he was a total dunderhead in my life. The four of us started playing pool after that, and it got harder to keep my eyes off her. She had curves for days and her skin was so smooth I wanted to reach out and touch it more than I'd ever wanted anything.

To my intense surprise, she started flirting with me when she almost caught me staring at the curve of her ass. Then Huf called me out for flirting and I nearly combusted with embarrassment on the spot, tripping over my own feet as I completely missed all the balls on the table.

When _she_ called me out for staring at her ass later on, all the blood in my body left my face. Then she flirted back and left me hanging to talk with our mates. The game we were playing was all new to me, and I was eager to keep it going. It was like I was a completely different person I almost didn't recognize.

I was shit at pool after the game Ruby and I were playing started, but she was kicking our ass anyway -and I much preferred our game. When the tosser she was flirting with earlier pulled her to the side, my temper flamed red hot without my permission. He was touching her like I wanted to, but it looked like she didn't want it and I couldn't stand for that. No one could touch her without her permission.

I feel like I handled myself well until he called her a slut and I lost it. I punched him without a second thought and heard a gasp come from Ruby. A few seconds later she reprimanded me for what I did and left the bar after apologizing like she'd done something wrong, a disappointed look on her face as she turned around.

My anger fizzled out the second the door slammed shut and I chased after her, hoping an apology would fix things. Remembering the way she clutched my arm in her hands when I stepped in front of her gave me a bit of hope as I ran to the alley we'd Apparated in to. Tonight had been so good, I really didn't want to ruin it with my temper.

Before I could apologize for being the world's biggest ass, she told me tonight was her fault and she was sorry _she'd_ ruined _my_ night. I reluctantly agreed to act like the night never happened when she begged me to and watched her leave, standing alone in the alley for a few minutes to collect myself.

Eventually, I went back into the bar and saw the Spanish prat was nowhere to be seen. Huf and Sparky were sitting at the bar, drinking beer leisurely. Stupid assholes, they were acting like everything was fine when that was the furthest thing from the truth.

"I'm glad you prats can drink and be merry," I spat as I sat on a stool beside Sparky.

"You punched a bloke for a girl. We're trying to come to terms with you actually liking a living, breathing girl who doesn't have scales and a tail," Huf shrugged, making me roll my eyes. "What? She's got you wrapped, mate, and she has no idea."

"You really think she still hasn't the foggiest after what I did?" I asked, embarrassing hope coloring my voice despite my best effort to keep it hidden.

Sparky snorted and replied, "I think you're even further from shagging than you were before, mate."

I grumbled and ordered a shot of muggle whiskey. Instead of calling it Firewhisky, it was Fireball for them. I downed it and ordered another, maybe getting drunk would make this night better.

* * *

I woke up to a splitting pain in my skull and light streaming through my window. When I sat up, the entire room spun, and I groaned. This was why I never drank as much as I did last night, hangovers were the worst feeling in the world. I knew I didn't have a Pepperup Potion on hand. It looked like I was going to be dealing with this today.

After vomiting in the shower, something I vehemently deny if anyone asked, I made my way to Ruby's room. I promised her last night I would act like nothing happened and I intended to make good on that promise. Even if it was the last thing I wanted.

"Thorpe, it's time to get up!" I announced, rapping on the door with my knuckles.

I groaned when the noise bounced around in my head. Ruby opened it dressed for the day and frowned when she saw me. My stomach was in my throat for a few seconds when she turned around and went back into her room. I stood there like a total dolt and waited for her, hoping she would come back and I didn't look like this for long.

"You look like you're dead on your feet," she told me, coming back with a vial of orange liquid. "Here, take this potion and stop looking like walking death."

I flashed her a look and downed the potion, immediately feeling ten times better. "That would've worked better if you didn't make the same joke twice."

She rolled her eyes at me and grabbed a flannel top, tying it around her waist and heading down the hall. "What's the assignment for the day, captain?"

Ruby really _was_ acting like last night didn't happen. Even if I'd never say it out loud, my stomach was in knots because of it. I didn't want to act like we didn't flirt last night, even if a relationship wasn't an option for us. At least not while I was her boss.

"You're on feeding duty with Huf today," I informed her, shoving my hands into my pockets awkwardly. "Those eggs hatched a couple days ago and have to be bottle fed because the mum's still a bit ill."

"So you pushed me off onto someone else because of last night?" she asked, making me freeze on my spot. When she noticed that, she quickly added, "Because you got shitfaced…?"

"Yeah, something like that," I agreed, realizing she wasn't going to budge on our agreement. "I'll see you later, Ruby."

* * *

 **Ruby's Point of View**

Charlie pushed me off onto Huf because I'd messed up last night, and I knew it. No matter what he told me his reasoning was, I knew I ruined everything by flirting with him. It was so stupid, he was probably not interested in me at all. I'd just misread the situation and made things awkward for everyone.

We went to breakfast together and sat with the guys as usual, but nothing about this morning was normal. Wilt wasn't talking much, he was far more interested in his food and not making eye contact with anyone while Sparky and Huf tried their best to be loud and obnoxious…

"Hey, 346, can I talk to you?" Delos asked, coming over to our too-quiet table.

"Of course," I answered, wiping my mouth and standing up. "Huf, I'll meet you at the feeding station when we're finished."

"See ya there," he replied, saluting me lamely.

I made eye contact with Charlie as I got up and he smiled painfully, making me sigh and follow Delos. We went outside where we wouldn't be overheard and he turned to look at me.

"So, 346, how are you settling into the Reserve?" he asked.

I swallowed and looked around awkwardly. "Uh, good. I really like it here, this is my dream job."

"How about Weasley? Is he treating you right?"

That was a very interesting question, one that made me wince. "Yeah, he's doing good. I'm learning a lot."

I didn't know what else to say without exposing too much. Something told me Delos picked up on that but didn't ask questions. Instead, he changed the subject.

"I know you've just started your training and you have a ways to go, but have you given any thought to where you want to be when it's over?" he asked, stroking his beard.

"I want to work with Pearl," I answered immediately, making him laugh. "I mean, Pearl and the baby dragons. She and I just have a bond."

"I've heard from some people you just walked into the baby dragon enclosure and won every one of them over before you left," he recalled with a small smile. "I should have your hide, but they seem to love you so you're safe. I'll talk it over with some of the guys and get you a spot by the time your training's over."

"Thanks, I really appreciate it!" I smiled, squeezing his bicep.

I adventured out to find the feeding station, spying the sun glinting off Huf's hair in the distance. I snuck up behind him, jumping onto his back and making him scream shrilly. The other guys around him started laughing, making Huf sneer playfully at all of them.

"Great, you're really good friends," Huf told them as they kept laughing at his expense. "Oi, fuck off, بجزم (bijuzms)."

He huffed and lead the way into the feeding station, carrying me easily. It was weird for me how willing he was to just pack me places, people made fun of me for my weight in school. Honestly, people made fun of me for everything while I was in school. I spent my time with creatures instead of people because they weren't cruel and vindictive. Professor Kettleburn and Hagrid were my only friends, I sat at the end of the Hufflepuff table by myself for every meal.

"So, you're mine today?" Huf asked, drawing me back to the current day as he put me on my feet. "I'm sure you want to feed the babies, right?"

"You know me so well," I replied, but my voice wasn't as happy as I wanted.

"Firecracker, is something wrong?" he asked, picking up on my mood change pretty fast.

I sighed and figured being honest would be the best course of action. "I went to Hogwarts like Charlie, and I didn't have any friends. The only people who talked to me were a professor and the groundskeeper."

"Ruby, I'm sorry," he told me, immediately losing the carefree attitude he always had and frowning. "We're really your friends."

"I don't doubt that, I was just thinking about how much you pack me," I replied flippantly. When I saw his confusion, I explained, "People weren't very nice to me, they made fun of how I look."

"You're gorgeous, you have to know that," he said pleadingly, dropping the bucket in his hands and turning to look at me.

I just shrugged, uncomfortable with having his full attention. "I don't really care what I look like, not anymore. I just remember it sometimes, and it's not the best thing for me."

"Well they were all assholes, you're cool," Huf told me, a note of finality in his voice. "Now let's go feed some dragons."

I nodded and picked up a bucket of my own, filling it with tons of meat. The smell of it made me gag dramatically and stick out my tongue, which Huf thought was the funniest thing in the world. I flipped him the bird and levitated the three buckets of feed to the baby dragon enclosure, and with Huf's help I fed all the babies.

These were the one's who'd been weened from their mother's already. They were playful and bouncy; Pearl saw me and took a big piece of steak before rushing over with it in her mouth. I snorted and crouched beside her, my heart squeezing when she offered to share it with me.

"No, pretty girl, you eat it! You need to grow big and strong," I cooed, rubbing her head as she started scarfing down the food. "Thank you so much for sharing. I appreciate it."

"I still can't believe she loves you that much," Huf explained after we left them and started feeding the bigger dragons. "She's a little brat, so I guess it kind of makes sense. Birds of a feather and all that."

I laughed mockingly and punched him in the shoulder. He whined about the bruise all the way to lunch, making me want to pull my hair out.

"Shut up! It's barely a mark!" I groaned when we sat down at the table with Wilt. "Tell him to stop being a baby!"

"Good luck, he can whine with the best of 'em!" Sparky said, sitting across from me with Charlie beside him.

"What'd Delos want this morning?" Charlie asked, his voice serious and ending the playful mood amongst us.

I looked at him with my eyebrows raised, pausing as I lifted my cup to my mouth. "Nothing, he was just asking what I wanted to do after my training. Then he complimented me for being a badass because of my affinity for baby dragons."

His looked remained serious and his shoulders tense, so I quit being a dick. "He asked how my training was going. I told him you'd taught me a lot, relax."

I could tell he was still a bit put off, and I chalked it up to last night. I couldn't imagine things ever being the same between us. The thought made me a lot sadder than I thought it would, and even knowing I was going to bottle feed tiny little dragons after lunch didn't fix it.

* * *

 **Like I mentioned before, if you speak/read Arabic and my translation or word usuage is totally wrong -please correct me. I want to learn and be a more culturally aware person!**

 **Also, don't forget to review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi, this chapter is hella late and I'm sorry! It's the usual excuse, I'm in school and my semester is wild. I graduate in May and am working my life away, in desperate need of a vacation.**

 **I hope you're still reading and just as excited for this update!**

* * *

"So, what happened with you and Charlie after I left Delgado's?" Wilt asked a week or so after the bar incident.

We were in his room after dinner, me lying with my head hanging off his bed while he threw a ball in the air and caught it. The others were doing something masculine with fire and explosives or something, Wilt and I opted to exclude ourselves.

"You were there when I was talking to Santiago, right?" I asked.

"Hot Spanish daddy? Yeah, I was there for that," he replied, making me nearly choke on my own spit in surprise. "Sorry, too much? I have to reel myself in around the guys, too."

"No! I just wasn't expecting it," I reassured him. "Always be yourself with me."

He nodded and went back to tossing the ball. "So, you were flirting with that guy and Charlie got jealous?"

"No, I left Santiago to go help Huf get away from something his mouth got him into," I explained. "Then I started playing pool with the guys and sort of forgot about the guy. I wasn't really interested anyway, it was just nice for someone to be interested in me. Plus, he was really handsome.

"I don't really know how it started, but Charlie and I ended up flirting for a while. I'm pretty sure he was looking at my ass when I took a shot and I definitely looked him up and down," I smiled, making Wilt laugh. "Then Santiago came over and started trying to get me to go home with him. I tried to be nice when I said I wasn't interested, but he wasn't taking no for an answer, so Charlie stepped in. Huf and Sparky joined, then Santiago called me a name in Spanish that made Charlie punch him.

"I felt like the world's biggest loser after that and told Charlie he was being ridiculous, that punching Santiago wasn't going to do anything," I continued, sitting up and crossing my legs so I could pick at the hole in the knee of my jeans. "I left the bar afterwards because I was embarrassed, but he followed me. I practically begged him to forget the night happened and he actually did something I asked for once."

"You flirted with him and he flirted back, then you asked him to forget the entire thing happened?" he asked, trying to put everything together. "This dude hasn't spoken with a female who doesn't have scales in at least the year I've been here, longer according to the others. He worked up the courage to finally flirt with you, and you shot him down."

I didn't think about it that way and felt the fingers of guilt creeping up my spine again. "I was just embarrassed I'd caused a fight. I flirted with two guys in one night, it was all my fault."

He hit me in the chest with the ball he'd been throwing and scoffed. "Shut up, you're hot and guys flirted with you. The difference is, Charlie Weasley is awkward and weird and more dragon-oriented than people-oriented… just like you."

I didn't know what to say to that, so I just chucked the ball back at him. We ended up pelting each other with it for a while until we dissolved into a fit of laughter on his floor. Our heads were beside each other's with our bodies facing away from each other. It was a position I'd never been in before.

"I've never had friends before. Is this what it's like?" I asked in a quiet voice.

"This is what being best friends feels like," he answered, tilting his head against mine affectionately.

* * *

The actual dragon training started today, and nerves were building in my stomach as I walked to the pit with Charlie. I'd trained with the baby dragons already but working with the grown ones was a whole different ballgame. I guess it wasn't really training, we were rehabilitating the injured dragons so they could function out in the wild again -we just called it training.

It was also so hot outside, I felt like I was going to melt the second I stepped out of the barracks. I was wearing a loose, cropped t-shirt with overalls and sneakers I'd charmed to be fireproof. I followed Charlie to the Hungarian Horntail enclosure to see a huge dragon standing near the gate.

"Okay, are you ready for your first day?" he asked, stopping by the gate and turning to look at me. "Observe. What's wrong with him?"

I went up to the clear fence and watched the dragon moving around. There was no limp or noticeable wounds, so I started watching closer. He didn't try to fly or move quickly at all even if he was a fairly young creature.

"He has ligament or muscle damage," I replied, still watching him. "And his eyesight is damaged too, he just missed his nest by a couple centimeters when he crouched down because he relied on scent alone."

"Good, I thought you'd miss the eyesight," he replied, his surprised tone rubbing me the wrong way until he explained. "It took us two weeks to figure it out."

I grinned smugly at him and said, "What can I say? I'm just good at what I do."

"It's going to be a joy to watch you get knocked off your high horse," he sassed, opening the enclosure as we cast our shield charms.

The dragon was on his feet and charging at us, but Charlie lifted his wand and stunned him before he got close. I hated that part, even if I knew it didn't hurt the dragon -there was something off-putting about watching such a proud creature laying so still.

"Okay, what do you do?" he asked, sliding his wand into the holster on his hip before crossing his arms over his chest.

"I inspect the full body and then check for tender spots," I narrated as I did what I was saying. Once my check was finished, I moved back to stand beside Charlie. "Now, we start the training, right?"

He nodded and roused the dragon, shifting forward onto one of his feet to balance himself easier. I matched his position and held up my wand, awaiting further instruction. He said another incantation I recognized and watched the air in front of us shimmering -he'd cast an invisible shielding charm to keep us from getting burned when the Horntail got angry.

"What's his name?" I asked suddenly, making Charlie flash his eyes over to me in surprise.

"Why is that important right now?" he asked, turning back to watch the dragon as he took note of us. "He can still roll us around like ragdolls, Thorpe."

"Then you should tell me fast," I told him pointedly, smiling to prove my point.

"Balthazar," Charlie replied, rolling his eyes at me. "Now focus on the topic at hand, you have to focus all your attention on this."

I just nodded and turned to look at Balthazar, moving my wand in the pattern I'd memorized months ago. He followed the rhythm with his head a few seconds later, standing still and watching the sparks in the air before flying to my utter surprise… making me let down my guard. During his downstroke, the gust of wind sent me flying backward into the enclosure wall.

I groaned as pain shocked through my body, the taste of blood filling my mouth. Pain was also searing through my head, making my vision have black spots. Charlie swore and stunned Balthazar before making his way over to me to crouch beside me with an ashen expression.

"Ruby? Are you okay?" he asked quietly, reaching out to touch me but freezing a bit before he touched me. "Jesus, your head is bleeding."

I reached up and touched my skin gingerly, wincing when it stung and my fingers came back wet.. I stood up and immediately regretted it as a bout of dizziness engulfed me, making my vision develop even more intense black dots.

"Hey, whoa, hold on," Charlie said quickly, reaching out and stabilizing me with his hands on my shoulders. "Can you walk?"

I nodded and took a shaky step, only for my knees to give out. "No, I don't think so."

I saw him struggle a bit with what to do as I tried to walk again, only only to stumble and brace myself against the invisible wall behind me. Charlie's arms were suddenly scooping me up and cradling me to his chest as he left the enclosure, barking for someone to lock it up as he made his way to the infirmary with quick steps.

"Weasley, what'd you do?" a man asked, but my vision was blurry so I couldn't see who it was.

"Shut up, she got caught in the downstroke of a dragon's wings when he took off. She hit one of the walls and couldn't walk," he explained in a strained voice. "She hit her head."

"My vision's blurry and I'm dizzy," I supplied, my speech a little slurred.

"You've probably got a concussion," the man said. "Put her on the table, Weasley. I can take care of this easy. You can head out."

His movements were gentle and slow as he laid me down on the cot, easing my head onto the pillows softly. "If it's all the same, I'm just going to stand over here."

"Do whatever you want, mate," he replied, coming to stand over me. "Thorpe, I'm going to give you a potion for the pain, yeah? Then I'm going to heal the wound on your head,"

"Sounds great," I agree, resting my palms flat on the bed underneath me.

I drank the potion and let out a sigh of relief when the pain immediately disappeared from my body. My tongue stopped pulsing from where I'd chomped down on it and my forehead wasn't aching anymore when the tip of his wand pressed against my skin.

"Now, your wounds are healed," he said, his face coming into focus and allowing me to recognize him as Viktor Hernandez -the Dragon's Den healer. "I'm going to give you a potion to heal your concussion. Can you sit up on your own?"

"I think so," I answered, pushing up from the bed slowly and leaning back against the headboard.

He handed me a vial and I drank it, wincing when the disgusting taste hit my tongue. I took it regardless, knowing a concussion was serious business. When I got the okay to leave, Charlie was over by my bedside in mere seconds -taking me by surprise.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked quietly, brushing my hair out of my face and cupping my jaw. "You hit that wall hard."

"I'm just a little stiff," I replied just as quiet, scooting forward to be closer to him -even if I'd never admit that to anyone but Wilt. "Thank you for bringing me here and staying with me."

Things felt different between us, softer than usual. I never in a million years would've let him touch me like this. I didn't know he could be this gentle, I'd only ever seen him be rough and tough with muscles like his. It was a heady feeling to know I could bring out this side of him.

"No problem," he told me in a shaky voice. "You scared me, you lost a lot of blood. You were really pale."

A small smile tugged at my lips and I lifted my hand to trace my fingers over the rough skin of his knuckles. "I'm pretty pale most of the time, I don't know if you've noticed."

If I thought him touching me was a surprise, the smile that light up his face was nearly heart-stopping. Merlin's beard, this man was absolutely beautiful. His eyes were so bright, they burned blue and expressed more than any words he could ever say. I'd never seen him smile with his teeth before, and I don't think I could ever be satisfied with him smiling without them again.

"And you say I'm beautiful," I whispered, making his cheeks and the tips of his ears turn bright pink. "Maybe you're just adorable then with your ears."

I tweaked the shell of his ear with my fingers and felt it grow even hotter. "Stop it, Thorpe."

Even if I wanted to giggle, I didn't do it. Instead, I kept smiling and dropped my hands from his skin. He followed me a beat later and took a step back, but we never stopped looking at each other. This time we hadn't been drinking and we were in our normal atmosphere when we were flirting… and it wasn't playful games, it was genuine this time.

"If you say so," I finally said, taking the elastic out of my hair and retwisting it up onto my head and sliding my headband back into place.

If I were braver, I would've told him I didn't want to forget about the night at the bar… but I wasn't. Instead, I turned on the cot and got down with Charlie holding me steady when I lost my balance a little. We left the infirmary together afterward, but he'd made it clear we weren't doing any more training today -which wasn't surprising.

It was also time for lunch, so we made our way to the canteen to sit with our friends. Instead of splitting to sit on either side of the table like usual, we sat beside each other on the bench seat. All the guys noticed the change in the seating arrangement but didn't point it out -probably for the best.

"So, how's your first day of training?" Huf asked between shoveling spoonful after spoonful of soup into his mouth.

I winced and replied, "It would've been better if I wasn't concussed for the last bit of it."

That caught Wilt and Sparky's attention, making the three of them all look at me and Charlie now. I sighed and told them the story, my face heating up in embarrassment. I'd talked such a big game about being a natural with dragons, then I'd been knocked on my ass the second I started training my very first dragon.

"Jeez, firecracker, way to make an impression," Sparky joked, making me sneer and go back to my food. "Are you good now? Rhetorical question, Charlie wouldn't have let you leave the infirmary if you were a bit wobbly."

Charlie grumbled under his breath about how much of a prat Sparky was and I snorted, agreeing wholeheartedly. "I'm fine, Viktor gave me a couple potions and I'm back in tiptop shape."

We went back to eating and Huf started talking about the hatched eggs and how it was almost time to reunite them with their mum. He was a trainer, too, but he worked mostly with the younger dragons and I hoped I would work with him after my training. Instead of voicing that, however, I just sat and pushed my soup around in my bowl.

"You should eat," Charlie told me quietly while Huf raved about bottle feeding babies and getting his fingers scorched. "You lost blood and Viktor didn't give you a replenishing potion."

I rolled my eyes playfully at him, but I brought a spoonful up to my mouth anyway. He winked at me before retuning back to the conversation as if nothing happened, but my face was burning regardless. I met Wilt's eyes across the table and saw him giving me a knowing look, and it only made me flush even harder.

What the actual hell was happening?

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 **Like I said, I hope you're still interested!**


	7. Chapter 7

**You're so awesome and supportive! Thank you so much for still reading and enjoying the story.**

* * *

 **Ruby's Point of View**

I was sitting in the baby enclosure after another day of training with Charlie. Pearl was hopping around in front of me with Maximus and Groff, a Horntail and a Peruvian Vipertooth. Since my first day with them, all the dragons had made some sort of relationship with me but one. A stubborn female Ukrainian Ironbelly who always stayed at least a meter away from me at all times.

The first time Gella and I met, she tried to burn me to bits. Pearl didn't like that one bit, attacking Gella fiercely. I had to stun them both, earning a bout of the silent treatment from a very pouty white dragon. It lasted all of ten minutes before she came flying at me and tackled me back, fluttering my hair with her wings until I laughed and rubbed her wing joints -her way of apologizing.

"How'd I know I'd find you here?" Charlie asked, coming into the enclosure with me and making all the dragons scatter. "Why does that always happen?"

Pearl tucked herself into my lap, hiding under the fabric of my top so Charlie couldn't see her. I giggled and peeked down the front of my shirt to see her eyes glowing in the darkness, making her surge up my shirt and out the neck hole playfully.

"Silly girl!" I laughed when she hopped back onto my lap and blew smoke out of her nose in Charlie's direction. "Be nice, we're friends with who feeds you."

"So, you're good with the babies and not so good with the bigger ones?" he teased, making me turn to look at him after Pearl left to play with the other dragons.

I pulled my knees up and wrapped my arms around them, keeping an eye on one of the babies who'd just come back from the dragon healer. "I don't know, I just bonded with them. I'm working on the bigger dragons. Balthazar is going to be my friend, mark my words."

He held up his hands in surrender and grinned lazily at me, reclining back onto the flat Earth like it was comfortable. "If you say so, you haven't made much progress though."

"You're awfully confident when I don't have my dragon army to fight for my honor," I teased, resting my chin on my knees as I looked at him. "Do you need me for something?"

He shook his head and sat back up beside me. "Not really, I was just done for the day and thought I'd come see if you wanted to come with me on a run to town."

I hadn't been into muggle town yet during the almost two months I'd been here. "That sounds awesome! When are all of us leaving?"

He looked around awkwardly for a few seconds before he told me, "Uh, it would just be us going. If you don't want to go, it's cool and I understand. This is probably weird, Merlin."

Him being nervous and awkward was something that never ceased to amuse me. Then I realized we were going to be alone somewhere that wasn't the reserve. The thought was scary and exciting at the same time. Making me a little nervous, too.

"No, I haven't been into town since I've been here," I replied a little later. "The only time I've left the Den was when we went to that bar."

He winced, and I realized how stupid it was. That was a horrible night the two of us never talked about for obvious reasons. Merlin, way to be a total idiot, Ruby.

"Yeah, that wasn't a great night, was it?" he asked, looking me straight in the eye and surprising me. "I'm sorry for hitting that guy, he just shouldn't have called you that. It wasn't fair, no man should ever say things like that to a woman."

"Charlie, I appreciate you standing up for me when you saw I was uncomfortable," I reassured him, placing my hand on the skin bared by his rolled-up sleeves. "I can take care of myself, Santiago wasn't the first person to call me bad names and I'm sure he won't be the last. It's next to impossible to hurt me that way anymore."

At least with people I didn't care about. Charlie had the power to break my heart and I knew it, even if I tried to push it to the back of my brain as much as possible.

"Ruby, that doesn't make it okay," he replied, refusing to let it go. "You know you're brilliant, right? Like, so bloody brilliant it's more than a bit intimidating."

My cheeks flushed as I looked down at my hand resting on his tanned, freckled skin. "Hush, I don't know how to act around you when we're not arguing."

"I'm sorry, I can't seem to stop making you uncomfortable," he groaned, scrubbing his hands over his face. "Christ."

"Stop it!" I cried, grabbing his wrists and pulling them away from his face. "I'm not uncomfortable, I'm just in unfamiliar territory."

Sensing my unease, Pearl ambled over to me and landed on my lap. She extended her wings when she looked at Charlie and looked every bit as fierce as she would when she was fully grown.

"Call off your dragon, queen," Charlie teased, but I saw some of the fear behind his eyes as he watched the creature in my lap.

"Everything's fine," I cooed, stroking over her spin with my fingers. "You know Charlie's a friend, you let him pet you sometimes. He and I are just talking, baby, but I appreciate you coming to take care of me."

Then I looked over to the side and saw seven dragons closing in ranks with Pearl. I was mostly joking when I teased him about sending my dragon army, but they were going to keep me safe anyway.

"Everything's fine, we're going to go for the night," I announced, getting up from the ground and sitting Pearl with her friends. "I'll be back to see you later, I swear."

I pulled Charlie to his feet and the two of us left the enclosure because I wasn't sure what the group of babies would do. I didn't think they would hurt him too badly, but I didn't want to take that chance.

"Remind me to never make you feel threatened when you're surrounded by dragons," he murmured, making me snort. "Like I said, you don't have to come with me if you don't want. I feel like I made you feel obligated or something."

"Weasley, I want to go with you to town!" I cried, taking his shoulders and shaking him. "It's getting late, we'd better go before it gets dark."

"Right, well, we need to Apparate," he told me awkwardly, offering his arm to me. "So just, you know, hold my arm."

I knew better than to make fun of him for that, so I just did as he instructed. We landed in an alley like the first time, but I kept my hand on his arm. He pocketed his wand and allowed me stay close to him, a small smile sitting on his lips that made warmth start brewing in my stomach.

He went and got the things he needed, picking up some odds and ends while speaking nearly perfect Romanian. To say I was impressed would be an understatement, I was practically starry-eyed by the time we ducked into a place for dinner. Even if he's been at the Dragon's Den for at least four years, I never really pictured him as being…book smart.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" he finally asked after we sat down and ordered. "It's weird."

I was flustered he called me out so bluntly, but it told me he had no idea what the real reasoning was. Telling him I was surprised and a little turned on by him speaking Romanian so fluently with the locals would embarrass him so much he might spontaneously combust on the spot.

"Uhm, I was just impressed you speak Romanian so well," I answered, trying to keep it kosher.

"Oh, yeah, I've been here so long I picked it up," he said flippantly, but I knew it was more than that. Seeing it on my face, he sighed and said, "You're going to be an ass if I tell you the real reason, so we're going to leave it at that."

"You're probably right, but I won't be unfairly mean," I argued. "I'll only be an ass if it's necessary."

He sighed for the millionth time and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I taught myself Romanian, so I could talk with the locals. The guys would never let it go if they knew, they think Wilt is a total knob because he's a genius."

That made a genuine smile tug at my lips, my teeth on display as I looked at him. "I think that's sweet, you shouldn't be embarrassed to be smart."

He just made a noise so I knew he heard me. Our food came a little later and we started eating, thankful for the excuse not to talk. Complimenting each other made things weird because we always bickered…

We'd just finished eating when I saw our waitress eyeing Charlie for the first time. Annoyance boiled inside me and I felt a frown slide into place on my mouth. He may not be my boyfriend or anything like that, but I still didn't want other women looking at him.

Did my jealousy mean I really fancied Charlie? I knew for sure I'd never felt for anyone else the way I do for him. He made me so angry I couldn't see straight, then he'd smile at me like he did when we were in the infirmary and everything would shift. I'd never really had crushes before, especially not after Isaac.

Isaac McGrath was the only boy who ever paid attention to me. I was a fifth year and he was a seventh year, which should have been my first clue that things weren't right. He immediately showed interest in me as soon as the year started, and we went on the first Hogsmeade trip together as a couple. He barely had to chase me, I was just excited someone was finally noticing me after years of either being ridiculed or ignored.

We'd been seeing each other for almost four months when he started to change. He was very manipulative of my emotions and the naivety I had regarding relationships. By our six month anniversary, he started pressuring me to have sex with him. He'd say things like I didn't really love him if I didn't sleep with him, making me feel guilty and ultimately agreeing to shag.

It was horrible, one of the worst experiences of my life. It hurt and didn't feel good for me at all, even if he really enjoyed it. Then, to make it even worse, I'd bled on his sheets and he shouted at me about it. I ended up going back to my dormitory in hysterical tears, burying myself under covers to hide from the entire situation.

Unfortunately, teenagers don't let embarrassing situations like that die and shitty boys do shitty things. Isaac told the entire school I was horrible, the worst lay he'd ever had, and blacklisted me from ever having another relationship while in Hogwarts. Because of him, I was weary of sex, men, and all the emotions that came along with both.

"Ruby?" Charlie asked, drawing my attention back to him. "Are you okay?"

My cheeks turned red and I hurriedly took a drink of my water to wet my suddenly-dry mouth. "Uh, yeah. I'm fine."

He wasn't convinced, but I really didn't want to talk about what I was thinking out loud. Instead, I stood up and took the check up to the register before Charlie realized what was happening. When I came back, he looked annoyed with me and that was something I could handle and react to.

"What?" I asked, leaning against the table with my hip. "It's the 90s, I'm allowed to pay for dinner. Now, let's go back to the Den."

He was still annoyed, but he followed me out of the restaurant and into an alley so we could Disapparate without being seen. I still wanted to tell him I didn't want to forget how we acted at that bar, but I was still a little scared.

"Charlie, can we talk for a second?" I asked, gathering all my courage in that moment and taking a leap of faith.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, tightening his grip on the shop bag in his hand.

"Can we talk about the night at the bar I told you to forget?" I said quickly, shutting my mouth the second the question was out.

He seemed less than surprised by the question, but I could tell he was nervous about the question. "Sure, Thorpe."

Shit, we were back to using last names. That wasn't promising and was almost enough to shake my confidence. It felt like we were just friends again.

"If you don't want to talk about it, you can tell me," I reassured him, feeling unease soar through me. "Actually, that was a dumb idea. I'm just going to go to the barracks. Goodnight, Charlie."

I all but ran away and didn't stop fast-walking until I was safely in Wilt's room. He looked up at me with a raised brow from the papers on his desk.

"Hi, I almost did the stupidest thing in the entire world," I said, leaning back against his door as I tried to catch my breath.

"Do tell," he told me, pushing his papers away and giving me his full attention.

* * *

 **Charlie's Point of View**

What in the hell just happened? We were good and now we're not. I thought we were actually working toward something, then she flipped like a switch. I dropped my things off at my room and headed into the reserve itself. I had some work I could do, and it was the ideal time considering I wasn't going to be able to sleep with my mind racing like it was.

I was lifting and hauling different rolls of bedding by hand instead of using magic. It was nice to have something else to focus on and the burn in my arms was almost pleasant. It reminded me of playing Quidditch back at Hogwarts.

It was night time, but it was still hot so I stripped off my shirt and tossed it over to the side. After all the bedding was hauled, I started breaking down some of the wood we used to make toys and exercise machines for the dragons.

"Hey, Weasley, what are you doing?" Sparky shouted as he and Huf came over to me.

"You have magic, you pillock, or did you forget?" Huf added, using a word he'd heard me say a million times.

"I wanted the distraction of doing it by hand," I explained, wiping my hands onto my jeans and taking the water Sparky handed me.

"What shit have you seen today that made you want to haul pallets of bedding and bust wood?" Huf asked, sitting on one of the bedding pallets.

I wiped my sweaty forehead with my shirt and sat in front of Huf with Sparky beside me. "I went into town with Ruby earlier. Things were kind of weird, but they weren't uncomfortable until after we had dinner. She zoned out for a while and was almost a different person when she came back to the conversation.

"Then we were back here, and she mentioned the night at the bar. You know, the one she asked me to forget?" I asked, waiting for them to nod in agreement to continue. "I agreed, but she did turned again and said it was a bad idea."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa -you went on a date with Ruby?" Sparky asked, holding up hand to stop my story.

"No, it wasn't a date. She and I just got a couple things I needed and got dinner together," I argued, draining half the water with a couple drinks. "I thought things were good, but I was very wrong."

Huf just shook his head and replied, "You two need to take control of this and talk about what's going on. You're only training her for a couple more weeks, she's already been placed in the nursery with me after it's over… she just doesn't know that yet, so keep it to yourself."

Of course she got the position she wanted, Ruby was brilliant with the dragons. I wasn't kidding earlier when I told her I was a little freaked by her dragon army. Seeing all of them poised to attack when she was uncomfortable and they thought I was the reason was scary.

"I know, that's what I've been thinking about for the last couple weeks," I told them, tossing a handful of rocks toward the empty space of the desert floor.

"So, you're saying you like her?" Sparky asked, elbowing me repeatedly. "Like, you want to go out with her or you want to shag her? Because she is hot, I get wanting to shag… if it wasn't so weird to think about."

"Do you want me to hex you?" I asked in annoyance.

He held up his hands in surrender and stopped elbowing me. "That's fair, I was just trying to get a rise… and I did."

Asshole, he was trying to prove I fancied Ruby… and I did. Big time.

* * *

 **Like I said, thank you so much for reading and staying with the story despite the sporadic updates!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Ruby's Point of View**

I was standing in the middle of Balthazar's enclosure, the two of us about five meters apart. Charlie was just outside the door, but I knew I couldn't make any progress with him inside with me. I moved as close to Balthazar as I could before I lost my nerve and knelt down to the ground to try and bond with the big beast.

"I'm not here to hurt you, I want to help you get better," I said loudly so he could hear, knowing his sight wasn't the best. "I can't do that if you don't trust me."

He blew through his nose, but there were no flames this time -progress. I lifted my hand and waited for him to make the final move, making the decision his. I'd been working with him for almost two straight weeks now, trying to rehabilitate him with Charlie.

The last thing I expected was to feel the roughness of scales brush against my fingers. I slowly lifted my head to see the amber eyes of Balthazar gazing down at me, and I could see how cloudy they were now. He really couldn't see.

"You really can't see, can you, sweet boy?" I asked softly, sliding my hand up the side of his face to delicately trace over his orbital bone.

He shook his head and I felt my eyes narrow a bit. "Do you understand me?"

Balthazar nodded his head again and I felt my shoulders drop in surprise. "If you understand me, stomp one of your feet four times."

Balthazar looked at me for a full minute before he hesitantly lifted his left foot and stomped it four times. Then he looked a little over my shoulder as if saying 'what now.'

"You can understand me!" I cried softly, reaching up with my other hand slowly to slide his eyes shut. "Can we train a little bit?"

He nodded after letting out an annoyed groan, making me laugh. "We're going to see if you can follow my voice first."

I stepped back from Balthazar and moved a couple meters away from him and back behind his body. "Okay, sweet boy, come find me!"

He shuffled around for a while before he paused and sniffed the air. Then he lumbered over to me and stopped less than a meter in front of me. He blew through his nose again, ruffling my hair and letting out a pleased noise when he realized he'd found me.

"Good job!" I complimented, tossing a piece of meat into the air that he actually caught. "Balthazar! That's the first time you caught it! I'm so proud!"

We continued playing in the enclosure until we were both exhausted. "I think that's the end of our training today. You did so good, B! I'm so proud!"

I left the enclosure to see Charlie still waiting for me outside. "It's starting to get annoying how good you are with dragons."

I flashed him a pointed look and replied, "Do you not remember Nema charbroiling me a couple days ago?"

We'd been training a female Ironbelly who did not like me. She threw rocks in my direction and tried her best to knock me off my feet with her wings, but I was prepared now. I cast a sticking charm to my feet and didn't leave the ground, further pissing off Nema. She adored Charlie and didn't like me intruding on their time together.

I kept trying to help train her, but it just made her even more mad at me. I was trying to make a maze in the air for her to fly through while facing away from her, a huge mistake on my part. One minute everything was quiet and the next my back was burning uncomfortably. I heard Charlie shout a stunning spell before making his way over to me, saying something else under his breath, and making my pain ease.

"She's difficult," he replied, but there was a smile on his lips.

"Stop enjoying the fact that one dragon at the rescue likes you more than me!" I cried, rushing at him and jumping on his back with my arm around his neck. "It's not nice!"

He laughed as he tried to get me off his back to no avail. "I have to remind you, or your head will get so big you won't fit through doors!"

I squealed and hit his back with my other hand, loosening my grip enough for him to slip me around to his front. My head was tossed back as I laughed, but when I dropped it down, I realized how close our faces were. He was holding me up with his hands under my thighs easily and my arms were draped over his shoulders. We were away from the other guys, so I swallowed my anxiety and lifted my hand to card into the hair at the nape of his neck.

"Hi," I said stupidly in a quiet voice.

"Hi," he repeated, smiling at me dorkily.

"I really like your smile," I told him, combing my fingers through his hair now.

"Oh yeah?" he asked, making me snort and tap the corner of his smile with the tip of my finger. "I really like a lot of things about you."

Was that Charlie's way of saying he liked me?

* * *

 **Charlie's Point of View**

Holy hippogriffs, that wasn't what I meant to say. I was thinking it, but I had zero intentions of saying it out loud. Everything about Ruby _was_ something I liked, even the way she ate the carrots from her soup every single time we had it before everything else. It was so over the top that it would've been excruciating if anyone but her did it.

"Like what?" she asked after a beat of silence between us.

I could feel the heat gathering in the tips of my ears, a Weasley trait I detested up and down. Every one of us had it except Ginny, the tips of her ears turned red when she was angry. It always gave me away; I grew my hair out long enough to cover them.

"Uhm, you've got nice eyes," I said, closing my eyes in frustration the second it was out of my mouth. "Wait, that sounded stupid. I like how blue your eyes are and how they turn green sometimes when you wear that one shirt green and blue plaid shirt. I like your laugh, the real one instead of the fake, delicate one you use when you're around big groups of people. And I like the way you're so confident around dragons and never doubt your ability. It's so attractive."

I bit my tongue after that, looking at the scattering of freckles on her shoulder. She was wearing a tank top that exposed some of her stomach and the majority of her upper back. I'd never really been distracted by her body before, it was more her mind and her personality, but recently there'd been exceptions.

It was hotter now than when she first came to the reserve, and her wardrobe represented that. She wore more shorts and tank tops, exposing more pale skin. Plus, I'd actually started looking at her body now -especially since Sparky pointed out how hot she was… and he was right. I just tried my best to not get distracted when we were in an enclosure with a dragon.

"I want to be sassy and flirty and mysterious, but I don't know how to be all three with you," she finally said, making me look at her and find her face flushed pink. Then she swallowed and quickly told me, "I never wanted to forget the night of the bar, I was just nervous and thought you did."

I had no idea what to say to that, I just knew I didn't want to have this conversation where we could be interrupted. "Can we go back to my room and talk about this?"

I put her back on her feet and the two of us went to the barracks after Ruby hesitantly nodded. I realized once we were inside the hallway my question had insinuations attached I didn't mean. The last thing I wanted was to make it sound like I only wanted to shag her.

"This wasn't supposed to sound like I was only trying to get you alone in my quarters," I told her after I shut the door behind us. "You just make me nervous."

I watched her wipe her hands on the legs of her pants before perching on the edge of the desk in the corner. "I don't know if that makes this easier or harder."

I sat across from her on the edge of my bed, picking at a small rip in my jeans. "Ruby, I know I'm not the easiest bloke to read. I hate talking about things, and I hate talking about how I feel."

"Charlie, we don't have to talk about this if you don't want to," she said quietly, looking at the floor instead of me as she twisted her fingers. "We can go back to how things were, I think."

Sink or swim, Weasley. "I don't want to go back. It sucked when you told me you wanted to forget that night."

"Why didn't you say something?" she asked, exasperation edging into her voice. "We could have avoided a lot of awkward situations!"

"Because you suggested it and I thought it was what you wanted," I answered honestly, the two of us finally looking at each other.

"Yeah, because I flirted with two guys in one night like a total slag and then you two got into a fight over it!" she replied, biting her lip when she was finished.

Her calling herself a slag made a white-hot blade of anger stab into my stomach. "You're not a slag, Ruby. I punched that prick for calling you that, so I'm not going to let you do it either."

"That's what that word meant?" she asked cluelessly, her anger fading as her face fell. "You shouldn't have hit him regardless, but definitely not over that. He was just telling the truth, Charlie."

"Ruby, don't say that. You did nothing wrong, there isn't anything a woman can do that gives a man the right to call her names," I replied tersely, my hands clenched on my lap.

Her eyes were big and frightened when they looked at my lap, and I felt myself deflate immediately. Yet, she was the one who apologized, "Sorry, I can't seem to do anything right."

I stood up from the bed and walked over to her, tilting her head up and looking her in the eye. "What was that? I've never seen you as anything other than confident. Did I do something?"

She shook her head, but I saw the tears welling up in her eyes. "I don't know how to properly flirt with a guy. The only experience I've ever had with a relationship was one of the worst times of my life."

I wanted to ask questions, talking to her kept me from losing my temper, but I didn't want her to hurt anymore. "Do you want to talk about it?"

She laughed huskily and wiped her eyes. "You pretty much just told me you fancied me, but you want to hear about my disastrous experience with my ex?"

I wanted to tell her I'd listen to anything if she told me about it, but I didn't get the chance. Fists pounded against my door incessantly until I grumbled the entire way over and opened it. Sparky, Huf, and Wilt were all standing there, but Wilt looked like he was only along for the ride.

"Are you coming to dinner tonight or going on a hunger strike until Thorpe sucks you off?" Sparky asked, elbowing Huf in the side.

My entire face flamed, feeling Ruby's eyes on my back. She could hear everything that was going on, and somehow, I knew this wasn't helping whatever was happening between us.

"Ruby?" Wilt asked, peeking around me to see her sitting on my desk. "Shit, did we interrupt something? I told you Neanderthals there was a reason we didn't see either of them."

"Shit, sorry, Weasley. I didn't know she was here," Sparky said quickly, his face a bit panicked. "Well, we're going to dinner. You two take your time, I really don't want to get my ass handed to me on an empty stomach."

"Idiots," Wilt mused, pushing the two of them away from my door.

I shut it and laid my forehead against it, praying to spontaneously combust on the spot. Sparky made jokes like that all the time once he figured out I liked Ruby, but her hearing them was a completely different thing. There was no way in hell I could man up enough to face her.

I felt her hand press softly against my back and turned without thinking. Her cheeks were rosy and her bottom lip was swollen like she'd been worrying it with her teeth. Embarrassment forgotten, all I wanted was to kiss her and hole up together in my room until the end of time.

"I'm so fucking sorry about that," I breathed out, her gaze impossible to break. "I swear I've never talked about you that way with them. Sparky is just a prat who doesn't know when to shut up."

"I know, he's my friend," she replied, her tone not a bit sheepish. "I'm around him often."

* * *

 **Ruby's Point of View**

Sparky's remark had my heart hammering against my ribs, but I tried my best to play it off. Charlie fancied me, that much was obvious, and I felt like the ball was in my court now. Swallowing all the fear that he didn't want me, I stood on my tiptoes and used his shoulder for balance.

I was face level with his chin unless he decided to lean into me. "I think I might have more than friendly feelings for you."

He gruff voice made my stomach knot up. "I know I properly fancy you."

I swallowed thickly and licked my lips, watching his eyes dart down before they flashed back up to me with big pupils. I felt myself nodding and that seemed to be what he wanted because he lowered his head and his lips brushed against mine hesitantly. A pleased sigh left me as I pulled myself closer to him and his hands found my waist.

I haven't kissed anyone in at least two years and it made anxiety well up in my stomach. What if I was bad and ruined this? That was the last thing I wanted, we'd taken over two months to get to this point. It turns out I didn't need to worry because the second his tongue touched the seam of my lips, my stomach growled obnoxiously in the quiet room.

He laughed as he pulled away and smiled softly down at me. "Let's go get you some food, yeah?"

I huffed but nodded, going back to my flat feet and heading toward the door. I was opening it when I heard Charlie fiddling around in his wardrobe behind me. When I turned, he held out a flannel shirt to me with a pointed look on his face.

"Sparky already made a couple remarks about how hot he thinks you are," he explained, holding the shirt open for me. "Also, the temperature dropped earlier. I can tell by the condensation on the window."

I flashed him a look but did as he requested, putting my arms in the holes. Then I rolled up the sleeves, so I had my hands free and reached down to take his. When he slid his fingers between mine, I couldn't stop myself from smiling as I opened the door and lead the way to the canteen.

Obviously, we dropped hands before we went inside, but his shirt on me was a dead giveaway to our friends. The other members of the reserve just assumed I was sleeping with one of the guys and didn't give much attention to me showing up with one of them after dinner started. Our table, however, was hooting and hollering like crazy -again, the others just ignored them because this was normal.

I sat beside Wilt and started getting food, grateful for the soup. I really loved the little carrots the house elves put into it. At least I assumed house elves made our food, I'd never seen a cook around.

"So, did you shag?" Huf finally asked, making me roll my eyes.

"Wouldn't you like to know!"

* * *

 **Here ya go! Hope you enjoyed!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hi, this chapter is a bit late... but it's here and I like it. I hope y'all do, too.**

* * *

My first day working with the dragons on my own was beyond exciting. I was with the babies every other day and spent the days between with the grown dragons. I'd talked to Delos about my desire to keep working with the larger dragons, and he easily agreed with me. I had the sneaking suspicion he'd watched me with Balthazar because I didn't even have to plead my case.

"Hey, B!" I called as I came into the enclosure alone. "How's my sweet boy?"

He was up and rushing over to me in seconds, stopping less than a meter away from me. He sniffed the air for a little bit before nosing at the bag over my shoulder. He was a completely different dragon than the one who'd knocked me off my feet the first time I met him.

"Oh, so you only come over to me for food?" I asked, rubbing my fingers over the rough scales of his cheek. "That isn't very nice!"

He shook his head but didn't stop nudging the bag with my snout. I huffed playfully and took out a piece of meat, "You only get this if you catch it. You know the rules, step back."

He rumbled loudly but did as I said. I hefted the meat into the air, making a disgusted face, before throwing it further to the right than usual. Balthazar was fantastic at catching things I threw straight at him, so I had to mix it up a little bit. Like I thought, he missed it and searched the ground for the meat a second later.

"Let's try again, I know you can do it," I coached reassuringly, grabbing another piece from the bag. "Are you ready, sweet boy?"

He nodded, and I launched the piece of meat. Balthazar ran toward the meat and it brushed the side of his face, progress. He picked that one up quicker and pawed the ground, his sign he was ready to go before I could even ask. I drew back and threw this one hard, sailing it behind him.

Balthazar took to the skies and caught the piece mid-air. I swear to Merlin the cheeky dragon winked at me when he re-landed, a smirk on his face. Despite all the research I'd done into dragons before I came here, I had no idea how funny they were. Each dragon had a different personality, they were as expressive as people if you just took the time to pay attention.

We kept going at it for an hour longer before I had to leave. "B, I have to go check on the babies. I'll see you later, yeah?"

He huffed but let me go out without causing a stir… I'm sure it helped that I left him a couple pieces of meat as a parting gift. I nodded at Huf when I passed him, knocking knuckles as I passed the nursery before tapping the pattern on the baby enclosure door to go inside.

As expected, Pearl flew over to me as fast as her wings would carry her. She'd gotten so big in the last three months, she wouldn't be in the enclosure for much longer. The thought made me want to cry, she'd be moved to either her mother's enclosure or she would be released into the wild… but that wasn't what I wanted to think about right now or ever.

"My girl is getting so big!" I cried, wincing when she landed on my shoulder. "You're too heavy to sit there now, Pearl! You know that!"

She huffed and flew back down to the ground, following me as I checked all the others' progress. She was my shadow today, sometimes flying or walking. I was dealing with Max's leg injury he'd gotten while fighting with Xxillion, another baby in the enclosure. They had to be separated, Xxillion was taken to a different rescue because he came here after Max.

"How are you doing?" I asked, tracing a little maze for him in the air to watch him fly. "Can you fly this for me? I need to see how you're flying."

He took to the air and followed the maze like I asked, but he was a bit delayed. I was impressed with the way he moved, he was healing nicely. Unfortunately, my full attention was on him instead of splitting it amongst the others, so I missed what happened and only caught Pearl and Gella fighting.

"Ladies! Stop it right now!" I shouted, making sure Max was safe on the ground before turning all my attention to them.

My shout drew Gella's attention and she flew at me instead of Pearl. She sank her teeth into my forearm and ripped the skin off before digging her claws into my neck. I'd thrown my arm up to protect my face and given her the perfect opportunity to attack.

"Stupefy!"

Gella fell backward off me and I clutched my arm to my chest. It was gushing blood; she'd bitten more places while I was trying to fight her off and I didn't notice. Thinking on my feet, I ignored the agonizing pain shooting through my arm in protest and yanked off my sweatshirt. I wrapped it around my wounds and headed toward Huf where he stood waiting for me in the doorway.

"Shit, thanks for that!" I panted, out of breath as my adrenaline slowly dulled. "Merlin's beard! That dragon really hates me!"

"Christ, go to the infirmary instead of talking to me! You're neck's bleeding, too!" Huff shouted, making me jump and scurry to follow his instructions. "Idiot!"

"Thorpe, I'm getting tired of seeing you here," Viktor said after I was sitting in the checkup room. "At least you had the thought to wrap up your arm… I can see that lapsed with your neck."

"I ran out of jumpers," I deadpanned. "Can you stitch me up, please? I'm getting a little dizzy."

"That's why women shouldn't work here!" a man groused from one of the beds outside my room. "They're too dainty and fragile to work with the big boys. She should be with the elves making dinner, should be in her place."

I was just going to ignore him, but Charlie chose that exact second to run into the infirmary. I'm sure it surprised no one when he hexed the man and continued into my room. It was a minor hex and I knew that was because he didn't want to upset me anymore.

"Ryman, next time I'm going to be the one hexing you! Shut your trap!" Viktor shouted, shutting the door and silencing his wails as bats flew from his nose. "Nice hex, Weasley. I'm going to act like I didn't see it."

Then he focused back on my neck wounds after he stopped the bleeding on my arm. It stung as he tapped his wand repeatedly, but I clenched my jaw to keep in any noises. He swore and moved down to my arm, tapping each of the five bites Gella left on my right arm.

"Unfortunately, these are too deep for me to keep from scarring," Viktor said after he finished healing me up. "Your neck, however, shouldn't scar too badly."

Thankfully, she'd only ripped my skin really bad on one spot -the first bite. The others were just bites, but I was fine with scars as long as I didn't have to stay here any longer. I hated the smell of any sort of medical places.

I just shrugged and told him, "Eh, scars aren't really an issue for me."

He eyed Charlie who was still pale as he stood by my bed, rocking back and forth nervously on his heels. "Right, well I'll leave you two alone. Disinfect whatever you fuck on, yeah?"

I knew Charlie was really freaked when he didn't blush at Viktor's words, he just moved over to sit on the edge of my bed. I held out my hands and he took them in his, letting me see his were a little shaky.

"Hey, I'm good," I reassured him, looking into his eyes so he knew I was telling the truth. "I think it would've been worse if Pearl didn't protect me."

He just shook his head and pulled me to his chest, hugging me tight. I released a ragged breath and held him back, feeling the tension in his body lessen. I ran my nails along the back of his neck and felt him press a kiss under my ear.

"Merlin's balls, Ruby! You scared me," he sighed, pulling back and sitting at the edge of my bed. "Huf told me what happened and how much blood there was. Stop getting hurt!"

I laughed and got down from the bed, eyeing my jumper on the ground. I picked it up, lying it where I'd been sitting previously. Then I cast a cleansing charm before I mended the tears in the arm from Gella's teeth. Once it was good again, I pulled it on and followed Charlie back out onto the reserve.

"Oi, fireball, go check on your girl!" Jensen, another guy who worked on the reserve shouted. "Huf said she's burning all kinds of stuff."

I'd forgotten about her in all the craziness, but I needed to go check. "I'll see you at dinner."

After I gave his bicep a reassuring squeeze, I ran off toward the baby enclosure. Huf was shouting at the dragons to no avail when I came over to the entrance. I tapped my wand and slid inside, easily taking control of the situation.

"Hey, Pearl, I'm okay," I shouted, making her fly straight at me and tackle me backwards.

The other dragons joined the pile with us, sniffing and flicking their tongues to make sure I was telling the truth. Once they were satisfied, they let me sit up and all sat around me. It was like they wanted to watch me to see if I was really there.

"Where's Gella?" I asked Huf as he slowly came over and sat on the other side of my dragon barrier.

He frowned and I knew his answer wasn't going to be good. "She's attacked three people now, we can't keep her here with the others. She's been moved to a separate enclosure while we decide what to do with her."

That made me frown, but I knew it had to be done. "I hate that I couldn't get through to her."

He nodded at me and tossed a couple firestones to the dragons nearest him. "I've been trying since before you got here, but she hasn't responded. Sometimes that just happens, it's something you should prepare yourself for."

Charlie'd already told me that much, but I still didn't want to accept it. I didn't want to think any dragon was ever un-helpable… I took this job to help dragons get better, I didn't want to think some of them weren't ever going to get better.

He nodded his agreement again, telling me he felt similarly to me. Instead of being sad and just sitting around, I got up and started training all the young dragons together. Huf stood up and did the same, the two of us working in tandem with each other and laughing when the dragons did something goofy. That's where we stayed until it was time for dinner before saying goodbye to them.

Like always, I made him carry me on his back into the canteen. Sparky's eyes landed on me and started drumming on the table excitedly, making me roll my eyes. I sat by Wilt and waited for him to ask his burning question.

"Let me see your arm!" he finally shouted, making me snort and Charlie punch him in the shoulder.

I rolled my eyes and extended my arm to him, eating with my other. He rolled up my jumper sleeve and congratulated me profusely. I pulled my hand back from him and used it to flip him off, making the others snort. I didn't miss Charlie's gaze lingering on me a bit longer than the others'.

I winked at him and all the guys gagged dramatically, making me roll my eyes. "Only you prats would think me winking is more disgusting than the huge bite marks on my arm!"

* * *

Wilt and I were in my room together a few days later, but he was being quieter than usual. Eventually, I flopped my body on top of his and made him let out a huff of breath. He rolled me off and turned his body to face mine.

"What?" he cried, righting his glasses because I'd knocked them askew.

"You're being weird, you have been for the last week or so," I replied, lying on my back and staring up at his ceiling. "What's up?"

His sigh came from deep in his chest and made me look over back at him in surprise. He was ruffling his hair anxiously and his face was tight. Whoa, I didn't think it was going to be something this intense.

"I don't want to hide who I am anymore, but I'm too nervous to come out," he replied, turning to lie on his back like I did. "I have a pretty alright life here, but that could all be blown to bits."

"I really don't think the guys are going to be upset with you," I said, taking his hand in mine and sliding my fingers between his. "They might not understand fully and things might be a little weird for a bit, but I don't think it's going to ruin things. So maybe come out to the three of them first and see how it goes."

I watched the war playing out across his face as he weighed the pros and cons of telling Huf, Sparky, and Charlie he was gay. If Charlie wasn't okay with it, that would be the end of our budding relationship… I couldn't be with a homophobe.

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 **If you liked this chapter, leave me a review!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry for the hiatus! It wasn't intentional, I just hit a wall with this story and don't really know where to go. This chapter is just a filler because I really have no idea what to write about... I hope I figure it out.**

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Charlie and I finally had a day off at the same time, so we spent the day together. We were currently lying together in his bed, I had my head on his chest as I played with the buttons of his shirt. He was reading a Quidditch magazine, humming under his breath when he found something that interested him.

"Not that this isn't the most interesting thing in the world, but I don't want to watch you read a magazine," I sighed, lifting onto my elbows to look him in the eye. "Pay attention to your girlfriend."

He seemed to be thinking for a minute before he grabbed my hips and rolled me under him after he tossed his magazine away to tickle my ribs. I was crying with laughter, trying in vain to get out from underneath him. While he was focused on tickling me, I took advantage and rolled him under me. I pinned him down with my hands holding his wrists, lifting my head from his neck to look down at him.

His eyes were sparkling with an easiness I hadn't seen there before. "You're so handsome, I don't know how I kept myself restrained for so long."

Just like I knew it would, my compliment made his ears turn pink. "Shut up, Ruby."

"No, I don't want to be quiet until you know just how handsome you are," I argued, kissing his forehead and scattering them across his face. "Your jawline is sharp enough to cut diamonds and all these freckles are the cutest thing. Then there's that smile, the real one you give me when we're alone instead of the one you use in front of the guys. And don't even get me started on that smirk you have when you're confident. It drives me crazy!"

If I wasn't kissing his face, I couldn't have been brave enough to say those things. I wasn't looking him in the eye and it made me courageous. Plus, the underlying need for him to be prouder of himself was strong. I knew what it was like to be insecure, and I was doing all the things I could to make him feel more confident in himself..

"If you want to talk about beautiful, let's talk about you," he said, making me pull back from kissing his chin to look at him.

"What do you mean?" I asked, sitting up across his hips and releasing his arms to cross mine over my chest. "I'm not beautiful, Charlie."

He sat up slowly, so he didn't knock me over, until our chests were only a couple inches apart. "Ruby, you can't really think that. You're so gorgeous it breaks my heart sometimes. When you're playing with the babies and you're laughing, the light shines off your hair and your smile makes you entire face look like the sun. I was never much of a daytime person until I saw you and knew the sun was where I wanted to be."

Charlie was never good with words, so I knew he'd been thinking about this for a while now. My heart was hammering against my chest because nobody had ever talked about me like that. I was scarcely breathing when I lifted my hands to gently cup his face, bringing my lips slowly to his and kissing him as light as butterfly wings.

That seemed to be new to him because his eyes were wide open when I pulled back and fluttered my eyelashes open. "What? Why do you look like that?"

"I don't have words for how that felt, Ruby. I've never had that many emotions flood through me all at once," he told me in a breathy voice. "That's the softest anyone's ever held me."

My smile was bigger than expected when I whispered, "No matter how big and strong you are, I'll always hold you this way."

He was absolutely beet red now, but I didn't pay attention to that. I busied myself with playing soft kisses all over his face and down his neck. He slowly laid back down for me and bared his neck, allowing me more space. This wasn't a position I expected from him, it was far too submissive. Charlie Weasley was nothing if not dominant in every situation.

"You are brilliant," he breathed, sliding his fingers back into my hair. "Godric, Ruby!"

His praises surprised me and made me bite his skin harder than intended, leaving a mark on his neck. "Shit, Charlie, I left a hickey on the side of your neck!"

That made him growl, his hand holding my hip tighter. "Good,"

"Not good!" I hissed, slapping his chest in exasperation. "We already get enough shit from everyone, I really don't want to make it worse!"

He put his hands over mine, keeping them flat against his chest to keep me from hitting him again. "They won't because they know I'll kick their ass if they're mean to you."

"I don't need you to fight my battles!" I told him before I sighed and moved off him to sit on the bed. "I'm independent and self-sufficient enough to take care of myself."

He sat up, too. "I never said you weren't, I just said I would take care of it. I care about you, it's my job to make sure you're safe and happy."

"But you don't have to! I'm trying so hard to prove myself here, to show all the others I'm their equal," I argued, trying my best to get him to understand what I was saying. "You coming in shouting at people because they're 'mean to me' is going to undo all the progress I've made!"

He looked stressed at my words and I realized he didn't get it still. Instead of getting angry and storming away, I took a centering breath and decided to explain it in terms he'd understand.

"You know how you felt like you had to prove yourself after Bill became Head Boy?" I asked, sitting on my knees to be the same height as him. "You were the Quidditch captain, but you still felt like you had to continue to prove to your parents you were equal with him? It's like that with me here, except I have to prove I can keep up with every single man and the one other woman. I think I'm doing a really good job, but you coming in with fists blazing is going to undo all the progress I've worked so hard to make. Do you understand now?"

"Everybody here knows how awesome you are," he argued stubbornly. "Ruby, you have to know that."

I shrugged and maneuvered myself around until I could pull my knees up to my chest. "I don't know, I'm not used to having people know me and want to be around me. I didn't have friends in school, I was always either with Hagrid or Professor Kettleburn. People just don't like me most of the time."

That made him frown and move forward, removing my arms from my knees. Then he pulled me back over to his lap, brushing his fingers through my hair softly. Every time he was soft with me always blew my mind. His rough palms treating me like I was fragile made me melt from the inside out.

"I didn't think about I like that," he told me quietly. "I don't mean to make you feel insignificant or like you need to prove yourself. If it bothers you so much, I'll try to stop being so angry."

I scooted closer to him and laid my head against his shoulder. "Good, that's what I want."

He just shook his head and placed his hands on my lower back. "If we're good again, I can think of something a lot more fun we could be doing."

I laughed and lifted my head, moving closer and allowing my lips to hover over his a little. "Oh yeah? What is that?"

He growled again and dove forward, knocking me onto my back and pressing his lips to mine. I laughed out loud, and he waited patiently for me to quit so he could kiss me for real. He held my face and his thumb stroked over my cheekbone as his tongue slid into my mouth. I kissed him back, sliding my fingers back into his hair and lifting a bit to get closer to him.

His free hand came down to hold my hip, his tongue sliding against mine and making a shiver course through my spine. This was the first time we'd had time to really snog for real, and it was fantastic. My only experience was nothing like this, Isaac wasn't this gentle or attentive to what I wanted. He just shoved his tongue into my mouth and did whatever he wanted. Charlie was slow and questioning, only placing his hands where he knew I wanted.

My shirt had come untucked while we were rolling around together, and I felt his fingers timidly tracing over the edge of it. I reached behind myself without breaking our kiss and slid his hand underneath the fabric boldly. My face was burning at the movement, but I knew it was what I wanted.

His hands were rough against the tender skin of my lower back, his finger sliding over the dimples there. I gasped at the feeling and broke the kiss, my eyes big as they met his. Taking that as a good sign, he kissed along my jawline and down the side of my neck. It was my turn to arch my back and offer him more space to kiss.

"Charlie!" I gasped when his tongue brushed a spot on my neck that made me light up like a Christmas tree.

He focused on the spot and kissed, scraping his teeth over it and making me moan quietly this time. His grip tightened after he dropped his hands to hold my waist, making knots form in my stomach. It occurred to me a few seconds after he licked over the spot again that he was leaving a spot on my neck like I'd left on him.

"Charlie Weasley!" I cried, hitting his shoulders with my palms indignantly. "We can't both have marks!"

He lifted his head and looked down at me with that smirk I'd mentioned previously. My stomach did a nosedive and I felt my stomach turn over on itself. It was nearly painful he didn't realize how gorgeous he was. My head fell back against his pillow in a groan.

"What?" he asked, nuzzling into my neck with his nose adorably.

I ran my fingers through his hair as I responded, "It isn't fair you're so adorable."

He made a noise of disagreement but didn't lift his head. Instead, he kissed where his lips sat sweetly before moving his body onto the bed by mine. I didn't miss that he left his head where it laid, cuddling into my side. The fierce, aggressive dragon tamer was nowhere to be seen as he let me hold him.

"Shut up," he told me in a sleepy voice.

I just let things be and ran my fingers through his hair, allowing him to fall asleep against my chest. I couldn't see his face, but I could feel the lack of tension in his body. I kissed the top of his head sweetly before closing my eyes to nap with him.

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 **If you're still reading, maybe drop a suggestion for the furthering of this story in my reviews or PM me.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Things have been hectic for me recently, but here is the final chapter! I know it's hellaciously late, and I'm so sorry about that. Thank you for reading and enjoying my work, it really means a lot.**

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I was the first one at the lunch table for the first time since I'd been here, Wilt usually beat me here. I'd been working with an injured, pregnant dragon who'd come in two days ago. She was stubborn and fierce, trying to keep her and her baby safe. It was my job to try and earn her trust… a task easier said than done.

"Hey, I'm going to tell the guys I'm gay today and I'm freaking out," Wilt announced as he sat beside me. "Please tell me this is the right thing to do."

I knew I should tell him they already knew, but it wasn't my place. The way he said it gave away his nerves, even if I didn't already know they were there. This was going to be his moment.

"If you're comfortable sharing that part of you with them, then it's the right decision," I replied, getting food.

He sighed and nodded, his leg bouncing quickly under the table. Sparky and Huf showed up together, pushing and shoving as they joined us. Wilt's back was rigid, trying to act normal and failing. This was going to be interesting.

"Where's Weasley?" Huf asked, turning to look at us.

"Better question, what's up your ass, Wilt?" Sparky asked, making me snort on my water before I could stop myself. "Oh, shit, bad choice of words."

Wilt's leg came to a dead stop and he looked at the two of them with wide eyes. "What does that mean?"

"Uhm… what does what mean?" Huf asked, trying to play stupid and failing for the first time in his life.

"Do you assholes already know?" Wilt exclaimed, making me groan and put my head in my hands. "And you knew they knew, Ruby? Oh, my god! I hate you all!"

"I couldn't tell you, it wasn't my place!" I replied, making him raise his eyebrows incredulously.

Charlie came over to sit with us later, dropping a kiss to my head before sitting beside me. "Do you know I'm gay, too?"

"… yes…" he replied reluctantly. "Why?"

Wilt groaned and flopped his head down onto the table in front of him. I rolled my eyes and went back to eating, happy everyone was accepting of Wilt. I grinned at Charlie and gave his knee a reassuring squeeze because I was so relieved he wasn't homophobic.

Wilt started asking questions like how much they knew and how long they knew. I just shook my head and let the group of them discuss it. Huf and Sparky joked around and teased him while Charlie just let things go… only making a couple digs at his expense.

"How's the pregnant dragon?" Huf asked later. "She looked angry."

"I mean, she is very angry… but I think things are slowly changing," I answered. "At least she isn't shooting flames at me as often as before, and I count that as progress."

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It was a family weekend and mine had already made plans to come. Charlie tried to be annoyed with me being so excited, but I caught him smiling at me when he thought I wasn't looking. I was playing around with the baby dragons, trying to ignore the twinge of sadness when I thought about how some of them were being sent to other reserves soon. I'd fought tooth and nail to keep Pearl and they eventually caved, to shut me up I'm sure… but whatever.

"I'm so excited to see my family!" I cried, giving up my cool act. "I haven't seen them in over six months!"

"I get it, I haven't seen my family in over a year," he replied, brushing his hair over his shoulder. "I can't wait for mum to gripe to me about how long my hair is."

"But I like your hair long," I replied, leaving the dragons to go over to him and card my fingers in his hair.

He hummed under his breath and pulled me closer by my hips, smirking down at me. "Oh yeah?"

I laughed and stood on my toes, making our faces closer together. "Oh yeah."

He laughed again and leaned a little lower to press his lips to mine, making me smile against his mouth. He'd just ghosted his tongue along my lips when he jolted away from me with a shouted swear.

"What the hell?" he shouted, turning around to find Pearl looking pissed with her nose smoking. "Your dragon just shot fire at me!"

"Pearl!" I cried, kneeling in front of her. "You're such a jealous little girl! That was naughty, you can't burn people like that! You know you're my favorite girl."

She huffed disgruntledly and crawled up my body to sit on my shoulder. It was cute when she was a baby, but she was at least 22 kilograms now. That meant she was way too heavy to be sitting there now, tipping me back onto my bum.

She sat on my belly now and it looked like she was smiling in satisfaction. "That was your plan all along, wasn't it?"

"Never thought I'd see the day I was jealous of a dragon," Charlie quipped from his spot less than a meter from me. "But here I am."

I laughed and looked up at him, his face upside down from my position. "That's sweet, but you've got nothing to me jealous over. I'd choose Pearl every single time!"

The look he flashed me, made me move Pearl from my stomach and run around the enclosure. The dragons could see me smiling and hear me laughing, so they started chasing Charlie playfully. The group of us played around until it started getting dark and my legs started aching from the exertion.

I jumped onto his back the second we were out of the enclosure and he moaned the entire time he carried me to our living quarters. We stopped at mine first and he dropped me to my feet, but I wasn't planning on sleeping alone tonight.

My hand grabbed his and I grinned sheepishly, looking down at my feet. "Can you stay with me?"

He cleared his throat, but his voice still came out hoarse. "Uh, yeah."

I looked up and saw him blushing fiercely, making me more comfortable with my request. "Then come on!"

I dragged him into my room with me and he shut the door behind him, locking it as his lips found mine in the dark.

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The next morning, Charlie's snoring woke me up. His mouth was right beside my ear and his breath was brushing my hair, making me smile at the innocence of the action. We were twined together under my covers, one of his arms tossed over my waist leisurely.

I ran my fingers through his messy hair watching his eyes slowly open. He blinked a couple times before smiling at me sleepily, leaning forward to kiss me sweetly. I smiled and scooted forward until our chest were brushing, our bare skin touching.

"Hi," I whispered, brushing my nose against his with hooded lids.

"Hello," he replied, his hand dropping to sit on my waist with his fingers tracing over the dimples there. "Last night was amazing."

I expected to flush, but I just smiled instead. "I was wonderful, wasn't I?"

He snorted and rolled me under him, covering my chest and collarbones with kisses before moving them up my neck to cover my face. I squealed and wiggled underneath him, playfully trying to get away from him without really trying.

"Quit it! You're so annoying!" I cried, making him laugh and move over onto his side with his head on his elbow.

We laid together for a little longer, his fingers tracing softly along the lines of my face. Eventually, we got up and he left for his room. I got ready slowly, my happy smile staying put on my lips the entire time. I'd spent the night with the most amazing man I'd ever met and now I got to see my family.

I ate breakfast with the guys and went to work with Annicka, the pregnant dragon. Even if I wanted to think about only seeing my family, I couldn't get distracted right now. The slightest slip up would be disastrous, even if I was starting to earn her trust.

"I know you're just trying to keep your baby safe, but that's also what I want," I told her evenly for the millionth time. "But I have to check for a heartbeat, which means I have to touch your belly."

To my surprise, she sat down and let out an annoyed huffing breath. I approached her slowly with my head bowed, nearly crying out in shock when the roughness of her scales brushed my hand. I lifted my head to see her giant sapphire eyes watching me slowly. She was allowing me close, but she was still on her guard.

I gestured for her to watch my wand and did a sonogram charm on myself, displaying an empty belly. Then I pressed the tip of my wand to her exposed stomach and said the same spell. A dragon the size of a Quaffle sat inside, its ears flicking every few seconds. I grinned happily and checked for a heartbeat, displaying one going quick and hard like it should.

"Your baby is in excellent health," I told her, taking a risk and stroking my fingers over her arched cheekbone. "I promise I'll do everything in my power to keep the two of you safe. You'll never be hurt by those nasty wizards again."

She'd been used to guard a prestigious wizard's vault in Gringotts. It was nearly impossible to tell if a dragon was pregnant if you didn't know what to look for. They didn't get a round belly like normal animals, their backs straightened while they humped over a bit more. The ignorant wizards who enslaved her had no idea until she broke free and left the bank.

Annicka let out a noise I interpreted as a thank you before I left her enclosure. Imagine my surprise when I saw my mother, father, and older brother all waiting for me just outside it. My mum looked as surprised as me while my father just looked mildly shocked and proud.

Robert, my brother, was the first to speak. "Your job is so much more badass than mine! I'm so proud and jealous!"

I laughed and ran at him, wrapping my arms around him tight. He held me just as tight and lifted me gleefully. Then I hugged my dad who lifted me up into his arms and held me there as mum hugged me from behind.

"I'm so happy you're here!" I cried after I released them both.

"Poppet, you were training a huge dragon!" dad told me, his eyes still huge. "I can't believe it!"

"346 is fast on her way to being one of the best trainers here," Delos announced, joining the group of us. "I'm Delos, I run the Den here."

My parents and brother shook his hand before mum said, "I knew she could. It's just a whole other thing to actually see her doing it."

"Thorpe's the first person I've ever seen successfully bond with a dragon," Huf said, coming over to stand beside me with his arm over my shoulders. "The babies love her like they love their mummies."

We continued to talk for a couple minutes before I saw Charlie's hair in the distance. He was surrounded by other gingers, and it clicked that they must be his family. I focused my attention back on mine and started showing them around the Reserve.

"Who's that redhead you're trying to not get caught making eyes at?" Robert asked while mum and dad marveled over the beauty of the desert around us.

I sighed and answered him honestly. "His name is Charlie, he's my boyfriend."

"He's hot, way to go!" he told me quietly, giving me a high five. "He also hasn't stopped staring at you. You had to have sex last night, and it looks pretty bomb."

I felt like I was going to spontaneously combust on the spot. The last thing I wanted to do was talk about my sex life with my parents so close. My silence was enough of an answer and had him practically smirking the entire rest of the day.

When it was time for them to head back home, it felt like my heart was going to break. Charlie had already said goodbye to his family and they were gone, but my eyes were burning as I walked with mine to the Portkey. My head was hanging down as I walked back toward the sleeping quarters.

"My mum thinks you're quite beautiful," Charlie said from my bed, making me jump in surprise. "Sorry, love, didn't mean to scare you."

I just shook my head and crawled into bed with him after I shed my shoes. He didn't say anything this time, he just wrapped me up in his arms. I let out a shaky breath and tucked myself underneath his chin, trying to pull myself back together.

"I agreed with her, you're the most beautiful girl in the world," he continued quietly, running his fingers through my hair softly.

I kissed his neck a few times affectionately, feeling my sadness melting away. One day he would probably meet my family and I would meet his, but right now this felt like what we were supposed to be doing. I was doing my dream job and I had a boyfriend who loved me and the same things I loved. As a kid, I never thought I'd get this and I was beyond thankful.

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 **Like I mentioned earlier, thanks so much for reading and giving me such great feedback.**


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